Forgotten Birthright
by Plantress
Summary: For daring to marry a thief, Queen Garnet was forced to flee for her life. Now twenty years later her daughter, with no idea of her parents past, must reclaim her heritage in time to save her kingdom from evil, just as her mother did before.Chap 4 up
1. Default Chapter

Plantress: I have weird ideas no? ^^. This is came out of a few "what if" questions I asked, like What if Garnet wasn't allowed to keep her throne? What if because she married Zidane she had to flee for her life? What if her daughter had to save the kingdom twenty years later? Just some stupid questions that lead to this story. Enjoy.

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Prolog

"Fifteen years ago eight heroes battled the genome Kuja for the fate of the world. Although the managed to defeat him, Kuja cast the, into a battle against death itself. After that battle the genome Zidane, brother to Kuja, went back to try and save this Kuja, but while he was inside it the Iifa tree collapsed. 

Six months later Zidane came during the play in his honor. At the climax of the play he threw off his disguise and called out for Queen Garnet to come down to him. The Queen rushed down the stairs and into the crowd. Unfortunately the chain holding the Falcon Claw to her chest snapped and the Falcon Claw itself was thrown backwards into the crowd. Faced with the decision of going back and picking up the symbol of her office or continuing on toward her true love, Queen Garnet choose to run toward Zidane. It is said that Garnet even threw off her crown before she jumped into his arms. A month later they where married.

However "Happily Ever after" never happened for the two lovers because riots began to take over Alexandria. Some thought that the Queen should be able to marry her true love, but other though it was a heinous crime for the Queen to marry a mere thief. With no vents but violence the crowds began to attack the palace and attempts on the lives on one or both of the rulers where common. Finally one night, under the cover of darkness, Garnet and Zidane fled never to be seen again. Captain Albert Stiner and General Beatrix where called on to assume the thrones but the refused, saying the Queen would return. 

After it became apparent that the Queen would not return, the city fell into chaos, and those who wanted to survive had to flee the city. 

Now the once proud city of Alexandria is, if you will excuse my language, a hellhole of thieves, robbers and assassins. I sometimes wish that Garnet is dead, just so she could not see the sad state of the city that was once considered the most beautiful place on Gaia." 

-As penned by Doctor Tot before his death five years ago.

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Forgotten Birthright

Chapter One: Mistadon

"Iriador!"* 

__

What now? An irritated Iriador thought from as she rolled onto her stomach. The sunlight that came through the window fell onto her black hair sending colored sparks along its length. Blue-green eyes glared about in annoyance. _ I haven't even done anything today. _Iriador was wearing a pair of boots that went up to her calves, a pair of tight blue pants and a sleeveless orange vest with a white shirt underneath. With a sigh she flipped onto her side. 

"Iriador! Get down here, you lazy girl." In response to the summons the sixteen-year old pulled her pillow over her head. _I already got up once already, I don't want to do it again_! Iriador knew that there would be hell to pay later but she didn't really care. Her black tail swished angrily as she pondered the injustice of having to wake up, get dressed, and then actually have to get out of bed. Her tail wasn't actually that different, the Genomes had started to interbreed with humans and other species after the Terra War twenty years ago and now they're where any number of young people with tails. What was unique about Iriador was that she had a small horn on her forehead. Long ago her mother had told her it meant she was special and that she must keep her horn hidden, so she grew her bangs out long and hopped for the best. Suddenly from down stairs she heard her mother give a cry of disgust and then her mother's shout echoed up the stairs.

"IRIADOR TRIBAL GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

"Full name, not a good sign with any parent" She muttered under her breath as she pulled the pillow off her head and sat up. With a sigh of defeat she stretched and then grabbed a hair tie off her nightstand as the past it, using it to pull her hair into a ponytail as she walked down the stairs. Finally she poked her head into the kitchen. "Yes, Mother?" She asked, then winced. Her mother was standing in the middle kitchen floor, an annoyed expression on her face, foot tapping the floor. Silently she pointed to where Iriador's cat, whom she had named Garnet after the run away queen, had deposited a dead mouse on the freshly washed floor. 

"Both of them out, Now!" With out a word Iriador walked over and picked up Garnet in one arm and grabbed the mouse by the tip of it's tail in the other. She knew better then to try and argue with her mother when she was in a bad move. 

"Come on you." She said to the cat as she carried it out of the house. As soon as she was outside, and far enough away not to be heard from the house, she dumped the cat unceremoniously to the earth and hurled the dead mouse as far away as she could. "Stupid cat!" She yelled after it as it ran away, "This was all your fault." 

"She playing might hunter again eh?" Her father said as he walked around the edge of the house. He rolled one should and winced. Using his left shoulder hurt him, he said from a wound he had received in battle during the Terra War. He looked at his daughter for a moment before he spoke again. "Your seventeenth birthday is in two weeks isn't it?" He asked her. 

"Two and a HALF." She corrected him. He smiled at her. 

"Almost an adult." 

"Yeah and Mom's freaking out about it. Ever since I told her I would be seventeen in a month she's been fussing over me like a Chocobo over its chicks."

"Don't worry about it, she's just worried about losing you." 

"But I won't be going anywhere, you and Mom won't let me!" Zidane chuckled at her.

"True, but you know we have only your best interests at heart." 

"That's what you say every time!" 

"So? Now lets go and help your Mom clean up what ever mess that cat made." Iriador shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You go help Mom, she'll just make me wash the floor again." Zidane looked at her and laughed. 

"Have I ever said you remind me of myself when I was your age?"

"Every time I get in trouble! Mom says that too." Zidane shook his head at his stubborn daughter and handed her a piece of paper.

"Here take this list and go to Dail, take Star. I'll tell your mother that I sent you to town as a punishment." Iriador took the list and shook her head at her father. 

"Going into town is suppose to be a punishment?" She asked. Her parents, particularly her mother, did allow her to go anywhere on her own. 

"Don't worry about it, just go." He said as he pushed her toward the Chocobo stables. With a laugh and a wave Iriador ran into the stables. She slowed down as soon as she walked through the door; the familiar Chocobo smells calming her. With a soft wark one of the Chocobos stuck its head over the door. 

"Hey Choco." She said as she ran her hand over his golden feathers. Choco had been her father's Chocobo for as long as she could remember. She even remembered riding on him, her father holding her up from behind when she was little. The only problem was that unless Zidane was with them Choco would allow no one to ride him. With a soft sigh Iriador turned toward the pen that was opposite Choco's. "Star, here girl." She called softly and clicked her tongue. Star was her mother Chocobo, a present form her father after Iriador had been born. Her mother had named her Star because of a strange shaped mark on the Chocobos forehead. But it was mostly Iriador who rode Star now, her mother rarely left their yard. 

As soon as she had saddled Star, Iriador led her out of the stables and looked back at her house. Then she swung her leg over the back of the Chocobo and slapped the reins sharply. Star set off at a trot. Iriador began to hum, and then sing under her breath, a habit she had had as long as she could remember. 

Dail wasn't really that far from home and with Star it only took about ten minuets to get there. Even though Iriador hadn't been to Dail that often it wasn't that big and she was able to find her way to the store. She dismounted and tied the reins to a post outside the door; she stroked Stars head before giving her a grysal green.

I didn't take long for Iriador to get everything on the list. Most of it was simple home supplies, like food, but a few made her wonder. _Why dose mom want potions?_ She thought _Or ethers? It's not that dangerous_ _around here._ As she was paying for the items she noticed that it had gotten darker outside. 

"Looks like a storms coming." The shopkeeper remarked. "You had better get home afore it hits here young lady." Iriador nodded and grabbed her bag. 

"Thanks for the advice." She called as she walked out the door. Outside dark clouds had plotted out most of the sun, and the wind had picked up driving most people back into their houses. "Come on Star, we have to get home before we get wet." She was shouting to make herself heard over the raising wind. But Star was being unusually stubborn, twisting its neck and warking urgently, and flapping her wings as if trying to take flight. "What is it girl?" The young women muttered to the Chocobo in a soothing tone. She managed to calm the bird long enough for her to mount but then a shriek ran through the air. It was longer and sharper than the shriek of the wind; it cut her to the bone. Star panicked and jumped about warking in pure terror, it took all of Iriador's strength to keep the bird in check. Iriador turned Star in the direction of home, but then a crash echoed behind her and she stopped. Iriador looked behind her just in time to see a monster lurch around the corner. 

Iriador had seen the monster that inhabited the plains and forests around Dail many times, her father had even let her kill a few of them, but this was beyond and thing she had every even heard of. It looked almost like a deformed caterpillar with many legs that moved it along, but the head had was pointed and the eyes where red dots in pits on it's head. Suddenly it whipped it's head around and saw her, with an unearthly shriek like the one she had heard before it rushed at her it's claws clicking. Weaponless and with no desire to fight it Iriador jabbed her heels into Stars side urging to runs as fast as she was able. Star with the monster shriek had already took off running, Iriador's kick just urged her to greater speed. As the speed away Iriador looked behind her and gasped, for although Star was leaving the monster behind, it too was running at speeds that seemed impossible for those tiny legs. She tried to urge Star to even greater speeds.

With terror at their backs the girl and her Chocobo managed to reach Iriador's home in less than five minuets. Dagger, standing out side waiting for her daughter gasped when Iriador raced in a top speeds. 

"Iriador Tribal you nearly ran me over!" Then the she noticed her daughter's face as she dismounted. "Iriador, what's wrong?" Dagger moved to comfort her daughter but then the hunting shriek of the monster rang out. Dagger stopped and looked over at Iriador, "No." She whispered "Not yet, not now." Zidane, alerted by the shriek, came running around the house. 

"Dagger, Iriador, are you all right?" He shouted as he ran up to his family. He stopped short when a shriek rang out. Half-buried memories came to new light. "Mistadon." He muttered under, then he turned to his wife. "Dagger, we have to hurry. You know what to do." Dagger nodded numbly. "Iriador go with your mother." 

"But.." She protested

"Now." Zidane said as he grabbed Star and lead her into the barn. Iriador started to follow but her mother grabbed her hand into the house. 

"Wait here." She instructed her daughter before she disappeared into her bedroom. Iriador stood in the kitchen numb with shock. Her parents knew something; her father had even knew what that creature was. How could they possible know something like that? What where they hiding from her? Her mussing were cut short when her mother returned with a beautiful carved wood box. She placed it on the table before turning to face her daughter. 

"Iriador" She said softly "You were made for much better things than simple village life." Before the shocked Iriador could answer she continued. "Your birthright claims you for great things daughter, you are meant to change history and the world, I know it." 

"M…mother." Iriador stuttered shocked, her mother had never sounded like this before. Dagger lifted the lid of the box but stopped and looked at her daughter. 

"I wish there was more time to explain. Suffice it to say that we were suppose to take a trip to Lindblum on your seventeenth birthday, that's what all the supplies you bought were for." 

"What!?" For a moment the surprise of the announcement over through Iriador's confusion. They where suppose to go to Lindblum for her birthday, she couldn't have asked for a better present! But then a shriek, heard even through the walls jolted her back to the present. _Will go to Lindblum, IF we manage to survive today._ She corrected herself. Then Daggers began to speak again. 

"But now you'll have to go alone. Your father is outside saddling Comet for you." 

"Alone!" Iriador began to panic inside; confusion pushed aside by amazement. Comet was the only offspring of Choco and Star but Zidane had kept her hidden for five years, training the young golden Chocobo to accept riders. "Why do I have to go alone?" 

"There is not time to explain!" Dagger said. With a sigh she reached into the box and drew out pendent. Dangling at the end of a silver chain was what looked like a shell made of the purest crystal. Iriador gasped once in amazement, then once more in shocked when her mother slipped it over her head. "Go to Lindblum Castle." Dagger instructed her "Ask to see the Regent or whomever they have ruling now. Show them the pendent and tell them you're my daughter, that should get you in." 

"Why Mom, why would they let you in?" 

"There isn't any time!" Dagger looked at her daughter for a second. "Oh Iriador…" She pulled Iriador into her embrace. "I've taught you all the white magic I know and I want to go with you but I can't. You're a young woman and you must discover you're heritage for yourself." Dagger released her daughter and pushed her toward the door. "Now go, your fathers waiting!"

"What heritage, what are you talking about?" 

"There isn't any time, you have to go!" As if to punctuate her words the Mistadon shriek rang out. Outside the wind was blowing harder then ever, forcing Iriador to run up the hill to where she could see her father standing. For a moment Dagger stood in the doorway watching her. "Go with my love." She whispered before turning back inside to make preparations of her own. 

"Iria!" Her father called to her as soon as she was in hearing rang, using the nickname he had given her. "Did your mom tell you where you have to go?" He was fighting to make himself heard over the wind. 

"Lindblum!" She shouted back as she studied the Chocobo standing next to him. Comet looked a lot like Choco except she bore a strip of green on each wing. 

"Good." Zidane said. "But the guards at Lindblum are tough, if they won't let you in go to the theater district and look for a clock tower. Ask for a man named Blank, tell him your Zidane Treble's daughter and why you're there, he should get you into the castle!" 

"Why would he get me in, what's going on?" But Zidane shook his head.

"No time!" He shouted as the Mistadon roared sounding dangerously close. Iriador had put one foot in the stirrup and was about to mount but Zidane stopped her. "Iriador wait!" He handed her something he had been holding in his hand. "Take this." It was a long pole with a sharp blade at each end, like the one she practiced with, but this one seemed to glow with light and power. "It's the Ultima Weapon." Zidane explained, "The most powerful weapon ever made! I have a feeling that you're going to need it more than I will!" Iriador took it and mounted Comet; she looked down at her father. 

"What about you, how will you survive." She was frightened now, for her family. Her father flashed the reckless grin he was famous for.

"Will manage, don't worry! Now go!" His last words where accompanied by a crash near by. "Go!"

Iriador took in a deep breath.

"I love you Dad." She said. His eyes softened. 

"I love you too Iria, Now get out of here!" Without another word Iriador kicked the Chocobo into a gallop, speeding for her home and danger, heading deep into her destiny. 

*yet another character name I took for a book, This time from Elaine Cunningham's book Elfsong. Iriador is taken from the elvish word for ruby. (Ruby, Garnet, get it?) 

Plantress: Phew! Five pages for the first chapter, I'm proud of myself. ^^. Any way this got stuck in my head and I had to get it out before I went insane, it does have some basis in fact though, if Garnet married Zidane she would start to sympathies more with common folk and this wouldn't go over well with the nobles, whether she was a hero or not. If I made any spelling errors please tell me so I can correct them; I'm the world's worst speller. Anyway, read and review or else my pet dragon will eat you! 

Oh, thought I'd better clear something up, the reason that Iriador thinks her mom and Garnet are two different people is because Zidane has always called Garnet Dagger and told Iriador stories like Garnet was a different person. 


	2. Mage

Forgot the disclaimer for the last chapter so here it is: I do not own FF IX!

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Forgotten Birthright

Chapter Two: Mage

For two strait days Iriador rode as hard as she could, trying to distance herself from her home and the monstrous Mistadon. She didn't rest very often, only stopping for a few minuets to rest Comet and eat something. Finally tired and hungry she reined her Chocobo in. 

"Guess I better rest." She muttered to herself. "And see if I can figure out how to get to Lindblum." With a sigh she dismounted and grabbed Comets reins. "Come on girl, lets find a place to set up camp." She knew that she had bought several Tents when she had gone into town, they had been on the list. She stopped for a second and scanned the surrounding area; a small forest to the side offered a small amount of protection and would also hide her from anything that might be following her. She set off down the hill, Comet behind her. It took longer than she had anticipated to reach, her exertion seeming to lengthen the trip by miles, but within a few minuets the young genome was leading her mount into the edges of the forest. 

After the fast flight through the plains, the sound of Comets and her footsteps seemed unnaturally loud as sticks and leaves crumpled under their feet. The sunflecked forest was unusually silent, a forest was normal a haven to monsters but their seemed to be none around. Sudden movements at the edge of her vision made Iriador start and whip her head around, she tensed and reached for her weapon, and then laughed when she realized it must have been a bird or squirrel. She continued to walk exasperated at her own foolishness, but then she began to feel as if she was being watched. She gripped Comets reins tighter, every muscle in her body tensed, then suddenly laughed out loud at her foolishness. "See, I'm paranoid now!" She said to her Chocobo as she walked, Comet had no comment. Iriador rolled her eyes at herself _And I'm talking to Chocobos._ She thought as she walked along. Eventually she managed to find a small clearing that would serve as her camp. She looped the reins over a branch and feed a grysial green to Comet, the Chocobo gave an appreciative chirp. After setting up her tent and getting her fire pit ready for nightfall, Iriador sat down on the nearest log to rest. Now with the danger behind her she had a chance to stop and think about what had happened back at her home. 

"What did Mom mean, I must discover my heritage for myself?" She said out loud as she drew the crystal pendent out from under her shirt. She laid the crystal on the palm of her hand watching the sunlight causing rainbows to stir in it. _What heritage? _She thought _Mom and Dad aren't really that special_ Then her eyes opened wide when she realized that she knew almost nothing about their past's. _All Mom told me was that she and Dad meet in Alexandria before the War and then a few months after the war ended they married, I never really asked about families or anything. _Iriador dropped the pendent and stretched still thinking. _I remember someone once said I had an aunt in the Black Mage Village. And didn't Mom say she had a cousin in Lindblum?_ Iriador stood up and walked over to where she had set her stuff down. _Maybe that's why Mom told me to go to Lindblum. But… _She thought frowning _why did Mom tell me to go to the palace? _She lost her train thought as she came up with what she had been searching for, the Ultima Weapon.

She stood for a moment watching light play across the surface of the blades, it wasn't sunlight but something else, part of the hidden power in the weapon itself. It was light for something of it's size, much lighter then it should have been, Iriador swung it in a circle watching the light on the blades shift. "Where in the hell did Dad get this?" She muttered under her breath. "And why haven't I seen it before?" She swung the weapon around for a few more seconds then stopped and leaned the weapon against the tree, she flexed her fingers to try and numb the ache in them, blades had never been her forte. _Why did Dad give it to me_ she couldn't help but wonder _I mean I already have a weapon_. With a smirk she dug into her back and came up with her mace. It was really a modified version of a white mage rod; the top orb now had half-inch metal spikes all over it. She chanced a small swing and grinned, the weapon allowed her to focus her power as a white mage rod did but still allowed her to attack if the enemy was too close for spells, a large opal was set in the handle, a gift from her mother. She dropped her mace to the ground and started over to her fire pit, she started a fire and then stood up just as lighting bolt went sizzling past her ear and struck a tree behind her. Iriador ducked instinctually just in time to avoid another thunder spell. A suddenly burst of laughter caught her off guard and she jerked her head up in time to see her opponent step into the camp. 

Silver hair fell in loose waves to her thighs, her blue eyes where trained on her victim. High-heeled boot went up to her midthigh, then gave way to dark blue pants, a sliver sash was looped around her waist. Her tight shirt had a low neckline, it was the same blue as her pants but small silver sequins had been sewn all over and gave it the appearance of a the night sky. The inside of her cloak was decorated in the same way; gloves of a slightly lighter blue covered her hands. 

"Your lucky I wasn't really aiming." She sneered. 

"What do you want?" Iriador asked, she shifted her wait hoping to make a dash for her weapons, but the mage lifted her hand. 

"If you move toward your weapons I'll cast another spell and this time I won't miss." She warned Iriador. Comet disturbed by the spells began to kweh and jump around as far as it's reins would let it. The mage's eyes flickered toward Comet but her hand still aimed at Iriador. While she was distracted Iriador cast a quick reflect spell on herself, the mage noted her moments and quickly looked back but by then the reflect shield had turned invisible and the mage could see nothing. 

"What do you want?" Iriador asked again, trying to by time to think of a plan. The mage flipped her silver hair over her shoulder and smirked.

"I was looking for a quicker way to get to the North Gate," She said "And then you walk by with a gold Chocobo! You just about made my day." When the mage shifted her weight her cloak moved and Iriador noticed that she wasn't carrying any weapons! And idea began to form in her mind; Iriador just needed a few more seconds…. "Defenseless little girls shouldn't go out alone, after all who knows what might happen to you?" The mage continued for a few seconds then noticed Iriador preparing to make a dash for her weapons. "I'm warning, don't do anything stupid or you'll get hurt." 

"Your right, defenseless girls shouldn't wander around by themselves….." Iriador said as she tensed her legs. "But I'm not defenseless!" Iriador dashed forward her attention focused on her mace that was lying ten feet from her current position. The mage released her thunder spell as soon as Iriador started to move and as promised it was right on target, but instead of hitting it's target it hit the reflection shield and rebounded.

"What the he..eugh!" The mage's surprise was total when her own lighting bolt slammed into her temporarily blinding and stunning her. Those few seconds where all Iriador needed to grab her mace and whirl to face her opponent. _If I'm right,_ She thought as she began to cast her spell. _Then she won't be able to hurt me if she can't cast spells!_ Iriador focused on the mage 

"Silence" she muttered under her breath. The mage had recovered and had started to cast another spell when the white magic spell engulfed her, silencing her so that she could neither talk nor cast spells. After a few moments of struggling the mage realized that she couldn't defend her self and she turned to flee. Iriador ran the last few steps to catch up with her, she managed to grab the mage's arm and whirl around to face her. The black mage managed to throw a punch but Iriador ducked and retaliated by punching her in the stomach. The mage went down all the breath driven from her body as Iriador silently thanked her father for insisting she learned to defend herself without a weapon. Iriador took a step nearer the mage, her mace raised threateningly. The mage put her hands up in a gesture of surrender and looked pleadingly up at her. Iriador, after making sure the reflect shield was till up, cast dispel on her and freed her from the enchantment. "Why did you attack me?" She asked her eyes hard. 

"Didn't I already answer that?" The mage grumbled then seeing the look on Iriador's face sighted and decided to answer. "I wanted your Chocobo all right?" 

"Why didn't you just rent a Chocobo from one of the stables?" Iriador snapped at her.

"I was broke when I set out from Treno." The mage said with a shrug "And by the time I had enough to actually rent one I was too far from Treno to go back and none of the towns near here have a stable." 

"So you decided to steal one." Iriador said icily.

"No. I really didn't think of it until I saw you walk into the woods with yours. Gold Chocobos are pretty rare you know."

"You where the one who was watching me earlier!" Iriador said glaring at her. 

"Yep. I thought you would notice me." Iriador glared at her for a few seconds before looking away. 

"Will you leave me alone and not try to take my Chocobo?" 

"Probably, I wasn't really serious about stealing stuff, it was a spur of the moment thing." 

"Most thefts are." Iriador responded then turned and walked back toward the camp. "Now go away before _I _have to hurt _you_." 

"Wait!" Iriador turned back toward the mage "I have a better idea." 

"What is it?" Iriador asked curiously.

"Look I wasn't kidding about girls traveling alone. I know you're not defenseless but there are other bandit groups out there that don't use magic. What are you going to do if you can't stop them with your spells and there are to many to take down with your mace?" Iriador chewed her lip thoughtfully.

"I really hadn't thought of that….." With her home being attacked by monsters she hadn't had time to think about human monster but the mage was making sense, even though her parents had tried to protect her she knew there were enough people who would jump at the chance to go after a pretty young girl to make a trip like this dangerous. 

"So why don't we travel together?" The mage said "Not many monsters can keep up with a Chocobo and smaller gangs to thieves might stop and think when they see two people travailing together." 

"And if they decide to attack us anyway?" 

"Look, I'm a black mage and you're a white mage right? Together we should be able to dive them off." Iriador paused a moment before answering. 

"I don't even know where you're headed, what if we're going in completely opposite directions?"

"I'm going to Burmicia, where are you going?" The black mage said looking her straight in the face.

"Lindblum." 

"Then we're going in the same direction! Your going to catch one of the airships that stop by Burmicia for supplies before heading over to Lindblum aren't you?" Iriador didn't really know how to answer this because she hadn't made any plans yet. Before she had simply been trying to get as much space between her and the monsters as possible.

"If that's the best way to go…." 

"All the other routes take you over the mountains. If you go through the north gate and go to Burmicia and catch an airship it cuts the trip down by less then half the time." Iriador sighed, she was still unsure of her path and the mage was making sense.

"Very well" She said "But you have to promise that you won't take any of my possessions or betray me." The mage sighed and put her hand over heart. 

"I swear on my mothers soul that I will not betray you in any way." 

"Very well. I suppose we are companions for now." Iriador turned to walk back then stopped. "By the way….what's your name?" The mage bowed to her grinning mockingly.

"Luna Thann* at your service." She said as Iriador turned from her. 

"My name is Iriador Tribal." Iriador began to walk to her camp and she heard the rustle behind her as Luna did the same._ Did I do the right thing_ she wondered as they walked. 

Later that night after they had eaten dinner Luna spoke up. "What are you doing traveling alone?" 

"Hmm?" Iriador looked over to her curiously. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean why are you out here alone? The number of bandits has increased a lot since the Terra War and almost no one travels alone if they can help it, so why are you?" 

"I could as you the same thing." Iriador shoot back.

"But I asked you first." 

"Why do you want to know?" 

"Because I want to know something about the person I'm traveling with." 

"Ok, but why should I tell you? I don't see a reason too." 

"How about this, if you tell me why your traveling I'll tell you why I am, deal?" Iriador thought for a second_ Should I? I mean I don't know anything about her. But then she couldn't have had anything to with the attack could she? I guess there no reason not to tell her._

"All right." Luna settled back and Iriador told her about her flight from her home. Somehow she managed to leave small parts like when her mother gave her the pendant and when her father gave her the Ultima Weapon. At the end Luna shook her head.

"That's sad. I'm sorry." 

"It's alright." Iriador said knowing full well that if she started to think about her parents she would start to cry and she wasn't sure if she would be able to stop. 

"But it's not unusual. " Iriador's head shot up and she started at Luna wide-eyed. 

"What?" Luna looked over at her surprised.

"You mean you haven't heard about the other attacks? Where did you live, under a rock?" 

"My village was small!" Iriador snapped blushing a little. "And what to you mean Other Attacks?" Luna sighed and began to play with a lock of her hair.

"At least tell me you've heard of New Terra."

"You mean the settlement some Genomes tried to start? My father mentioned it a couple of years ago, he said they where tired of living in the black mage village so they decided to create a place that would be only for Genomes." Luna nodded.

"That's it. Well, about a year and a half ago it was attacked like your village ."

"What!?" Iriador winced when she realized she was starting to sound like a parrot of something, repeating the same word over and over. 

"Attacked." Luna repeated "It was completely destroyed by a couple hundred monsters included some Mistadons. The weird thing was that they didn't go after the Genomes or other people there, only buildings and things like that. If I remember right only a few people where injured and no one was killed but they monsters stayed there until a joint force made up of Lindblum guards and Burmician Soldiers drove them out. In the end the Genomes abandoned it thought. The monsters had caused so much damage it would actual have been cheaper to start over from scratch then rebuild in the same place, and besides the soldiers didn't get all the monsters, there was still some wandering around." Iriador sat for a moment thinking over the information. So the attack on her home wasn't an isolated event, it had happened before. More to get her mind off it then anything else Iriador turned to Luna. 

"Now that I told you why I'm traveling it's your turn to tell me why your traveling."

"Fair enough." Luna said nodding "Well to start off I was raised on Daguerreo." 

"You mean the library island?" Iriador said interrupting her.

"Yeah." 

"You were raised there?" Iriador remembered her mother telling her about it once, how it was filled with old scholars who went there to study in peace and quite. 

"Yeah, since I was three, my mother told me that her whole family and my father were killed during the Terra War and Daguerreo was the only place that didn't reminder her of what she lost. She used to do small errands for the librarians, mending books, shelving, things like that to get money. When I was old enough I helped out a little." 

"Then why are you are out here?" Iriador said and regretted it immediately. Luna a looked down and Iriador instinctively knew that she was trying to hold back her tears.

"About a year ago my mother died of a sickness caused by the damp. There was nothing they could do."

"I'm sorry." Iriador said quietly. 

"It's okay." Luna said wiping her eyes "Anyway after she died I realized that she had said _her_ whole family had died during the war, not that my dads family had died too. I decided to leave after that, I had been trained by a couple of black mage's that lived at Daguerreo and I had practiced on the Grand dragons so I was confident I could take on anything." She grinned at Iriador. "Guess I was wrong. Anyway I tried to go to Alexandria because Mom said she lived there." She frowned when she noticed the startled expression on Iriador's face. "What?" 

"M….my mom used to live in Alexandria as well." Luna shrugged at her comment.

"It's not that surprising. Mother use to tell me stories about Alexandria before the queen left. She said it was almost as grand as Lindblum and twice as beautiful. It was a lot safer because it had both the Alexandrian guard and the Knights of Pluto in it. I had been looking forward to seeing it but a merchant told me what had happened to the city and I realized I wasn't likely to find anything there. The merchant said if I was looking for someone who used to live in Alexandria I should try Treno, a lot of the nobles moved there after Queen Garnet ran off."

"Did you find anything?" Iriador couldn't help asking. Luna shook her head.

"No. One of the people there said that some Alexandrian's moved to Burmicia to help rebuild it. I decided to try it, can't hurt right?" They two young women sat in silence for a while. 

"So…we're heading for North Gate tomorrow right?" Iriador asked. 

"Uh-hu." Luna said distracted. 

"Umm….Exactly how far are we from the North Gate?" Luna looked over to her.

"About half a day with your Chocobo. If we ride until night we should be near Burmicia by then and should get there before noon."

"Alright. I'm going to bed Luna. See you in the morning,"

"Night Iriador." 

Both Iriador and Luna lay awake for hours each thinking about the past and future.

In the morning Luna was the first one up. Iriador came out of the tent to find that she had already started the fire and was cooking breakfast. After a good morning Luna answered Iriador's unspoken question,

"I've always been an early raiser, but see I didn't steal anything. I gave you my word." Iriador simply nodded as she sat down. After a hurried breakfast Luna helped Iriador pack their camp up. After they got clear of the woods Iriador stopped and looked around. 

"What?" Luna asked her.

"Which way is North Gate?" Luna just looked at her before she gesture to her left. 

"This way." She said "You mean to tell me that you didn't even know where you were?" 

"I was running for my life! I didn't have time to stop and look around." Iriador snapped as she mounted Comet. "now lets go" Luna got on behind her. Comet turned and gave a questioning kweh but Iriador patted her neck reassuringly. "It's all right girl." She said as she kicked her into a trot.

True to Luna's word nothing bothered them as they made their way toward the North Gate. Iriador enjoyed the feel of the wind as she rode her mind miles away. Luna's voice jerked her back to reality when they neared their destination. 

"You know we may get to Burmicia earlier then we planned tomorrow. Look, North Gate is already in sight." They where almost at the gate when Iriador jerked Comet to a stop. 

"Why are you stopping we're almost there!" Luna complained.

"Don't you need a gate pass to get past the guards now?" Iriador asked nervously. 

"Yea so?" Luna asked then groaned when she realized what Iriador was hinting at. "You don't have one do?" Iriador shook her head. Luna sighed and then dismounted. "Get off." Curiously Iriador did as she was told.

"Why?" She asked then gasped when Luna swung up into the saddle. "Hey! What are you doing?" 

"I have a gate pass." Luna explained "Get on behind me and I'll get us through."

"Isn't each person suppose to have a pass?" Iriador couldn't help but ask as she swung up into the saddle. 

"Just leave it to me, I'll get us through." 

As the rode up to the door one of the guards stepped forward. "Halt!" he called out to them. Luna reined in Comet and dismounted.. 

"Hello." She said as the guard clanked up to them.

"State your names and your reason for going through North Gate." Iriador opened her mouth to reply but Luna beat her to it.

"Iriador and Luna Thann. We are on our way to visit friends of our parents in Burmicia." The other guard came up to stand next to his partner, he kept eyeing both females. "Here's our gate pass." Luna said handing it over. The guard looked and the pass and frowned. 

"This pass is for one person only." The guard said as he held up the gate pass. Iriador began to fidget nervously and looked over to Luna who smiled reassuringly With a sigh she put dropped her forehead into the palm on one hand. 

"I told those idiotic people at Treno that I was traveling with my sister but did the listen? No of course not!" She said in an exasperated tone and looked up at the guard "Can you believe how dumb some people are?" 

"Umm…..Miss.Thann?" The other guard asked.

"Yes?"

"If you where in Treno" He said "why didn't you take an airship to Burmicia?" Luna paused for a second searching for an answer. Iriador didn't like the look of the smile that came over her face a moment later. 

"A group of bandits attacked us before we went in to Treno!" Luna said throwing a sly wink at Iriador. "We managed to get away but they made off with all our money! We've been traveling over land, trying to get to Burmicia that way but we kept getting lost and attacked by monsters! We were so relived when we saw North Gate but now we can't get through because someone in Treno screwed up." Luna gave a great sigh and grabbed Comet's reins. "Come on Iriador" She said as started to walked off "We can try and get a pass from a merchant train." 

"Wait!" The first guard called out to them. When they looked back at him he cleared his throat and looked the other way embarrassed. "I suppose in light of the _unusual_ circumstances I can let you through. You did have a gate pass after all." 

"You will? Thank you so much." Luna said as she beamed at the guard. "Come on Iriador, let's go!" Iriador was careful to look straight ahead as they pasted the guards, as if she looked at one they would be able to tell something wasn't right. She waited until they were out of ear shot of the guards before she spoke up. 

"Did you really make all that up on the spot?" She asked Luna as they walked through toward the other gate.

"Not really." The mage admitted. "I tried to get passage on an airship by saying I was robbed before I go to Treno but the captain didn't believe me." Iriador shook her head.

"Did you have to lie to them like that?" She asked. Luna broke into a grin.

"Technically I didn't lie just stretched the truth." 

"What do you mean?" Iriador said frowning.

"Well" Luna said "Your parents sent you to Lindblum didn't they? And to get to Lindblum we have to go to Burmicia, besides who knows, they might have friends there. And you were attacked by _a_ bandit." She grinned and pointed to here self. "before you got to Treno because you have never been to Treno right?" 

"Right." Iriador said then pointed out a big hole in Luna's already shaky logic "But you aren't my sister." The mage simply waved it away with one gloved hand.

"Details, details." She said as they went throw the other gate. 

"Hey you!" The guard on the right called out to them. 

"Yes?" Iriador said a little nervously 

"You two are head for Burmicia right?" He asked.

"Correct." Iriador said so she could feel the handle of her mace.

"Well you two had better be careful, reports of increased monster activity around have been coming in." 

"We will." Iriador promised as Luna got up behind her "Thank you for the information." 

"It was my pleasure, anything to keep two innocent girls from harm." The guard answered as Iriador rode off. After a moment he turned over to see the other guard, a senior captain watching them ride off a confused expression on his face. "What is it Sir?" 

"That girl looked familiar…" The captain muttered under his breath. 

They two girls rode until it was almost two dark to see wanting to get to Burmicia as soon as possible the next morning. When the sun came up they ate a quick breakfast and began to pack up camp, Iriador putting out the fire and Luna putting the bags back on Comets back. Or at least that's what she was trying to do. 

"Dammit! Iriador what's wrong with your bird?" She demanded in an annoyed tone after a few minuets. Iriador brushed off her hands and walked over.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"She won't hold still!" Iriador watched as Comet pranced back ward from Luna flapping her wings and giving off her urgent warking sound. Iriador began to get a bad feeling as she remembered something. _Wasn't Star acting like this before the Mistadon attacked _She thought looking around nervously. Luna noticed her movements. 

"What is it?" She asked 

"Chocobos start to act like this when monsters are around." Iriador answered. Luna turned so she could scan the area off to their left. Iriador noticed something moving through the tall grasses in front of them. "Up there Luna!" The mage immediately threw a low strength fire spell more to flush out what ever it was then harm it. As soon as the spell hit the grass a large dragon burst from the grass and outraged roar bursting from it's throat. It's four feather wings flapped briefly sending in gliding the into the clear area they had used as a camp. A strong stench of rotting meat rose from it as it set down, the wings sending waves of it toward them. 

"It _stinks_!" Luna said as she covered her nose. "It must be a Dracozombie. It's the only dragon I can think of that would smell like this." Iriador nodded in agreement as she took a couple of steps back. "Hey, were are you going?" Luna demanded.

"Just distract it for a second!" Iriador yelled as she the last few steps toward the bags. She heard the dragon roar in pain as Luna threw a full strength fire spell at just as her hand closed on something. "Get out of the way!" She yelled the mage as she threw a small bottle at the dracozombie. Luna dodged to the side as just as before the bottle hit her and it smashed into the dragons face. The creature reared back as it screamed in pain, the contents of the bottle seared it faster then acid ever could, in a few moments it fell dead the flesh rotting away in a matter of seconds leaving only clean bones behind. 

"What did you throw at it?" Luna asked her.

"A phoenix down." She answered. They two girls began to turned to walk back just as two pure white ironites flew out from the sides of where the dracozombie had been. "Look out Luna!" She yelled as the two dragons split up, one going for each girl. Iriador managed to cast a protect spell on both her and Luna before the dragons reached them. She hopped backwards to avoid the dragons claws but it's tail sent her back a step, the protect spell absorbing most it's attack though. She smashed her mace into the dragons side and it roared and brought it's head down to bite at her, but she was expecting it and brought her mace down right between it's eyes. Her blow was harder then she had meant it to be and the dragon's skull caved, it dropped to the ground dead. She looked over to were Luna had killed her attacker with two well placed blizzaga spells, the mage was giving her a strange look. "What?" 

"You weren't really going to hit me with that were you?" Luna asked nervously looking at her bloody mace. 

"No." Iriador assured her. "Now lets go before anything else shows up." This time they manage to mount Comet before their next foe showed up. 

"Did we sleep in the middle of a dragon nest or something?" Luna demanded as a powerful roar echoed around the clearing. The next instant a large dragon landed in front of them. It was much bigger then ironites and the dracozombie, its green hide was almost a match for the grass around it, the red patches on it's cheeks seemed making it look almost clown like. Luna turned white her face drained of almost all color. 

"Luna what is it?" Iriador asked her as Comet dragon took a step forward it's tell lashing behind it, she pulled on the reins and made Comet back up a step away from the dragon.

"T….t….that's a Grand Dragon!" She managed to stammer out. 

"You said you've killed them before right?" Iriador asked hopefully. 

"Only in parties with several other mages. It's too powerful for us to take on alone." 

"What are we suppose to do then?" Iriador said her eyes of the dragon who was still stalking toward them, it's attitude reminded her of her cat when it had a mouse cornered and knew it couldn't get away.

"Try and get around it. If when can make it to Burmicia the guards should be able to drive it off." 

"Right." Iriador wheeled Comet around and tried to race off too the left but another Grand Dragon rose from where it had been laying perfectly camouflaged by its scales. "Damn!" Iriador swore as she turned Comet around and ran in the other direction. A third dragon rose up from where it had been hiding at the rear of the camp. Luna heard the first dragon take off it's wing beats ringing ominously in her ears. As she looked behind them she noticed something ominously familiar about the dragons tactics. 

"Careful Iriador." She called to her "I think they're herding us." 

"I already figured that out!" Iriador snapped at her. 

"What?" Luna asked.

"We're trapped." Iriador answered grimly as she turned Comet around to face the oncoming treat.

*_Thann is yet another name I took from one Elaine Cunningham's books. It's the last name of one of her main characters. If you've read Elfshadow, Elfsong or The Dream Spheres you've probably already figured out a thing or two about Luna. ^^_

Plantress: I'm so sorry for the long update time! But I actually have an excuse. First though I would like to thank 

Zidane Tribal 007

Kingpin

Eika

Angel of Death302

Leanna

FFgal

Rem

And ShadowDragon22 

For reviewing, it was really nice to see that so many people liked this concept. Anyway the reason it took so long to update was because I got a lot of new ideas concerning the plot, most from reading the reviews, that I reworked parts of the it. That and I must have rewrote the fight scene between Iriador and Luna at least 5 time. -.- Oh well, Read and Review so I can update sooner, I already got started on my next chapter! Thanx's again to everyone who took the time to review! Oh and pardon all my spell and grammar mistakes, I'm the worst speller in the world as I said before.


	3. Burmicia

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9, Squaresoft does. However I do own Iriador, Luna and any other original characters. 

Plantress: I finally introduce a plot twist in this chapter! Yea!

****

Forgotten Birthright

Chapter Three: Burmicia 

"Damn." Iriador muttered as the three Grand Dragons advanced on her and Luna. She dismounted from her Chocobo and heard Luna do the same. "Can we take them?" She asked the mage, the only one of them who had actually had experience with this type of dragon. Luna shook her head.

"They're too strong. I worked with two black mages and we were only able to take down one!" 

"What are we suppose to do then?" Iriador said as she took an instinctive step backwards. Her hold on Comets reins tightened as she felt the Chocobo tried to escape, Iriador knew if she did manage to get away then the dragons would kill her before she got very far. 

"How am I suppose to know?" Luna snapped back at her. "I didn't think that Grand dragons were this smart! They're suppose to be solitary animals with only rudimentary intelligence!" Iriador winced and tightened her hold on her mace. She looked at the dragons again and wondered how much damage her mace would do to one if it could get through its thick scales. 

"Apparently these decided to be different." Iriador said. She felt the opal in the handle digging into her palm; her mother had given it to her and said it would bring her luck when she needed it most. _Well, I could sure use some luck now Mom._ She thought as she edged backward. 

"Were going to run into the wall soon if this keeps up." The mage muttered under her breath. Suddenly one of the dragons inhaled and let out a cloud of poisonous gas directly at the two females. "Don't breathe it in!" Luna shouted as she tried covered her mouth with a corner of her cape. "It's deadly if you get it in your lungs." Iriador pulled part over her vest over her mouth and held her breath. For a few moments she could barely see as the poison surround her, blurring vision and tainting the air with a poisonous fog….. Then it was over, dissipating into the wind; Iriador took a deep breath of air fresh air. 

"Thanks for the advice Luna." She said as she looked over at the silver mage. She frowned when she noted that Luna was leaning on Comet her face and ashen color. "Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm Fine." Luna answered but she was coughing as she said it and Iriador could tell she was lying.

"Your not." Iriador said flatly. "Esuna." She muttered hoping that her spell would work. Luna's color improved a little and she stopped leaning on Comet. 

"Thanks." Luna said looking the other way. Iriador smiled and turned to see the center dragon stand up on its hind legs and flap its wings at her. 

"What?" She muttered confused. Was it trying to blow her away or something? Suddenly Luna's eyes went wide and she cursed.

"Shit! Iriador look out!" The mage shouted as a bright flashing of lightning shot in Iriador's direction. Iriador saw the flash and didn't really need Luna's warning. 

"Reflect!" She shouted, her body already in motion before her mind caught up with what was happening. The barrier came up just in time to catch the spell and send it thundering back in the dragon's direction. The blast hit the dragon on its stomach and it arched its back giving a shriek of pain. Luna seized the chance and cast Blizzaga on the injured dragon hoping it would kill it. Unfortunately lady luck wasn't on their side. The dragon flapped its wings and bared its teeth and began to advance again. The other two dragons, evidently enraged that the humans would attack one of them, began to advance again as well. 

"Great, just great." Luna muttered. Iriador tightened her grip on her mace as she tried to think of way's to get out of the trap. _If I let Comet go she might distract them long enough for me and Luna to get away._ She thought, but was ashamed the moment after. _I couldn't just leave her! Dad always said that a Chocobo was as smart as any human! I couldn't just leave her here to be eaten!_ Iriador tried to see the situation from a different angle. _If we could kill the dragon in front of us then we might be able to get through the gap….. but I don't think we would be able to get on Comet fast enough! Damn! _She glanced backwards and winced when she realized that soon they would soon be up against a wall, quite literally. After that the dragons wouldn't have a problem getting them. _Dammit! Can't anyone help!_ Almost as if in response to her unspoken question a sharp pain shot through her head as soon as she thought it. Iriador gave a sharp cry and dropped her head into her hands. 

"Iriador are you alright?" She heard Luna call out to you. "You aren't hurt are you?" 

"No I'm fine." The white mage answered. The headache had mostly vanished but Iriador wondered what could have caused it. Slowly she ran her hand along her forehead; she froze when it hit her small horn. She had forgotten that she even had one she was so used to it but now it was acting funny, it seemed to _humming_ and it was warm to the touch. The opal under hand was warm as well; a buzzing was coming from it as well. _What in the hell?_

Call me. A voice said. Iriador looked around trying to pinpoint the source of it. Besides her and Luna there was no one in the area. Luna noticed Iriador's frantic actions. 

"What is it?" The mage asked.

"Nothing." Iriador answered shakily. She didn't need to tell Luna that she was hearing voices.

__

Call to me Summoner. Iriador shivered when she realized that the voice was speaking directly into her mind. She looked over to Luna but the mage was still absorbed in watching the coming dragons. _Please _She thought_ Please don't tell me I've gone insane. This really isn't the time or place._

__

You are sane Summoner. 

"Then who are you?" She said too softly for Luna to hear. 

__

A friend, you already know my name.. Call to be and I shall aide you.

"How?" She couldn't help asking.

__

You already know how. To her surprise Iriador realized that she did, or at least she had an idea of what to do. She began to walk forward, somehow she knew that she had to be away from her companions. 

"What are you doing?" Luna hissed at her as she passed.

"Trying to help." She answered as she walked forward. She stopped and checked to make sure she was far enough away before she bowed her head over her mace and closed her eyes. She began to speak softly the words entering her mind as she said them.

**__**

Shiva Lady of Ice

I call to thee.

As she spoke she felt her horn and the opal drop in temperature until they almost burning with cold. Power began to build around her and she could hear the dragons coming closer and Luna calling for her to come back. She continued.

**__**

Grant us thine power and

Unleash the fury of winter upon our foes: 

Suddenly the power that had gathered around Iriador was unleashed and the young woman felt as if she were encased in ice, the cold was almost unbearably. Then it was over and she felt as if she were flying, the air around her filled with ice, her eyes fastened on the grand dragons below, the creatures that were threatening her life. Suddenly she heard her own voice shout out two words.

**__**

Diamond Dust!

Immediately a hail of frozen spears rained down upon the dragons, killing the wounded one and seriously injuring the other, forcing them to retreat a few steps. Almost as soon as it had begun the attack stopped. Iriador felt a suddenly rush of heat as she returned to her own mind and opened her eyes. For a moment the world around her swirled and she fought to keep her footing, taking a step backward to regain her balance. She shook her head and waited for the world to stop spinning, then turned around to see Luna's shocked face. 

"Iriador" She managed to gasp out. "What in the hell did you do?"

"I don't know." The girl said shakily. "I…I just asked for some help…." 

"Help! Help! Iriador that…that…thing just took out a grand dragon and managed to injure two others, that's not help that's…Iriador DUCK!" Iriador did as she was bidden, but her legs twisted and she fell, dimly aware of the dragon's claws whistling just inches past her head. Luna threw another blizzard spell at the dragon and it backed up a pace hissing at the two females. "Are you alright?" Luna said as she ran over to her friend's side. 

"I'm alright, I just over did it." Iriador looked up in time to see the dragon rear back again. "Get out of here Luna! I don't think I can cast anymore spells right now!"

"And leave you to get killed? Not likely!" Both turned as the dragon opened it's mouth and took a deep breath only to let it out with a shriek of pain as a spear entered it's side. The dragon jerked to the side as crimson blood spilled out onto the ground. It gave another shriek and lunged at the figure who had jabbed the spear into teeth coming together with a click as whoever it was nimbly dodged out of the way. 

"What in the heck?" The mage asked as the dragon turned to fire its cloud of poison at the figure. Fortunately it didn't get the chance because several more spears jabbed into sending its lifeblood streaming onto the ground. The dragon tried to take flight but one of the spears pierced the membrane of its wing and brought it to the ground while another one entered the dragon's chest. The beast, unable to stand up to the wounds, let out one final ear splitting shriek and then collapsed on to the ground and lay still. The other dragon, after seeing its two companion's die, took off into the sky and speed from the place. Several of the Burmicians who had killed the other dragon tried to give chase but their leader, the first figure, stopped them and shouted out some orders. After making sure the orders were being carried out the figure started over to them.

"You girls okay?" He asked as he got closer tipping a red beret off his eyes. 

"Pretty much." Iriador answered as she tried to stand. Her legs almost collapsed again and Luna had to help her. "Just a little weak." The soldier snorted.

"That's still pretty good considerin' ya managed to finish off one dragon and pretty much finish off two others." 

"Thanks I guess." Luna said. 

"What were you two doin' out here in the first place?" Their rescuer asked.

"We were heading toward Burmicia until we ran into a dragon nest." Luna said quickly, not wanting Iriador to do anything else. 

"Well your pretty close anyway. We might as well accompany you, we were heading back from a patrol anyway." 

"Good idea." Luna said nodding. "Besides I think Iriador here needs some rest." The soldier slapped his hand into his forehead.

"Hey that's right! I don't even know your names." Luna smiled at him.

"I'm Luna Thann and this is Iriador Tribal." 

"Tribal?" He muttered before smiling "Prince Puck of Burmicia at your service." He said bowing slightly. 

"Thanks for the help your Highness." Iriador said as she started to climb back on Comet with Luna's help. Puck waved away the thanks.

"No problem! We were on patrol anyway. And save that your highness stuff until we get back into the city, I don't like fancy titles, just call me Puck." 

"Alright Puck." Luna said trying to hide a smile. "Lets go." Puck called the rest of his group over and started explaining what had happened. The soldiers didn't really care and readily agreed to guard them the two young women as they made their way back to Burmicia. As the set out Iriador was seated on Comet as Luna lead the Chocobo by it's reins, the mage was talking to Puck as she walked. The rest of the soldiers walked around their group, eyes trained on the surrounding area. Iriador just stayed in the saddle, she wanted to walk but didn't think that her legs would support her. She remembered that when her mother had started teaching her white magic she had stressed the importance of not over exerting herself. She had explained that even the best mages ran out of energy at one point or another and when the happened they would collapse and be unable to move. She concentrated more on the conversation Puck and Luna were having. Most of it was uninteresting to her, it had to do with different Alexandrian nobles that had settled in Burmicia after the War, but one topic came up that made her pay attention. 

"Hey Luna, I noticed that all the dragons bore a lot of ice damage, what happened?" The prince said. Iriador sat up and looked over and Luna afraid that she would tell Puck about the ice goddess she had summoned, but the mage must have seen Luna's movement because she simply shrugged. 

"I was trained by a couple of black mages so I know ice magic. I threw spells at the dragons and because Iriador's a white mage she protected us." 

"That makes sense I guess." The prince said shrugging seeming to except Luna's explanation. Iriador however was watching him as he spoke and from his attitude she could see he wasn't wholly convinced. But he didn't say anything so Iriador decided to let it drop. After an hour or so of walking the rains that seemed to plague the Burmician region hit them at full force, soaking the small patrol. The Burmicians were used to the rain and seemed not to notice it as the ground they walked on turned to mud. As Iriador huddled deep into her cloak she noticed with some annoyance that the black mage ahead of her was walking her hood hanging down her back and was walking with her head tipped back trying to catch raindrops on her tongue. _And she's even older than I am!_ The disgruntled white mage thought as she tried stay dry and trying to ignore her more sensible half that kept saying it was hopeless. 

Even if the Burmicians were used to the mud and rain, it still meant that their progress slowed somewhat. They had to maneuver around deep puddles that no one wanted to wade through and fight off the few especially stupid monsters that dared to attack a fully armed Burmician patrol. As a result of this it was already evening when the reached the gates to the city. As the neared the gate a guard walked up to Puck and bowed. 

"Greetings your highness. I'm glad you returned to the city safe and sound." The prince waved him off as he had Iriador. 

"Yea, I'm glad to be home. Here take this Chocobo over to the stables, I'm taking the girls over to the palace." 

"Palace?" Luna asked as she brushed a few strands of silvery hair out of her eyes. 

"Palace?" Iriador said at almost the same moment as she friend, she finished getting off and watched as Luna handed the reins over to a guard who's expression showed as much confusion as her own. 

"Yea, Freya would kill me if I put ya anywhere else Iriador." Puck said in explanation. It was suppose to have been an explanation but it simply confused everyone more.

"Why?" Iriador asked. "I'm just a girl from a small village, not even a large city, so why would anybody care about me?" Puck turned around and started at her for a moment before he managed to stammer out. 

"Wha? Ya mean you don't even know who..? Great." He muttered. "You really need to see Freya, she can explain everything to ya. Just come on for now." He said as he gestured for them to follow then walked into the city. Luna looked over her shoulder at Iriador shrugged helplessly before she started to walk toward the prince. With a resigned sigh she ran a few steps and caught up with her two companions. She was surprised at how breathless that few feet made her feel and she began to worry that calling up that, that…_goddess_ had hurt her in some way. More to banish those fears then anything else she turned and asked Puck. 

"Freya is one of the eight heroes right?" The prince nodded absentmindedly.

"Yea, after my dad took control of Burmicia he named her his advisor. She didn't like it much but she had to do her duty, so she stayed and helped us rebuild." Suddenly he stopped walked and slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead. "Dammit!"

"What?" Iriador asked curiously.

"I forgot that Freya's gone on some mission or other, she won't be back until tomorrow."

"So I have to wait until tomorrow to see her?" Iriador asked slightly disappointed. She had begun to wonder why her parent's, how seemed to be such ordinary people, seemed to know so many high ranking people. Now she would have to wait until tomorrow to see if Freya would tell her why her parents seemed to be so important. 

"Yea, but don't worry you'll be waited on hand and foot 'til then." By then they had reached the doors to the palace, they followed Puck inside and watched as gestured s a Burmician servant over to him. "Show these two to a guest room will ya?" 

"Of course you majesty." The muttered as she bowed then turned toward the two females. "This way please." She said softly gesturing for them to follow her. She lead the two girls down a long hall way and turned several corridors, causing both of them to become completely lost. 

"Are they _trying_ to get us lost? Or are they just so used to this place that they don't realize that complete strangers can't find their way around without a map?" Luna whispered to Iriador as they walked. Iriador was about to shush her friend when she noticed that her guide had stopped walking.

"This will be you room." She said bowing. "Servants will come with food for and tomorrow someone will come to escort you to the audience chamber." 

"Thank you." Iriador said automatically as the servant opened the door. Luna snorted and pushed her all the way into the room, shutting the door behind her as she came in. With a slight shake of her head Iriador walked over to one of the beds and fell over backwards on to it. As she stared up at the decorated ceiling she heard Luna go over and sit on the bed opposite hers. 

"Pretty nice for a couple of travelers that the prince just happened to meet on the road." The mage commented. Then she looked over a Iriador. "I thought you said that you parents were ordinary people." She said flatly.

"I did!" Iriador snapped as she turned over. 

"Don't be so touch! I was just asking!" Luna said as a knock on the door announced the arrival of their dinner. 

The next morning a servant woke them both up early to give them time to prepare for the meeting with the Lady Freya. _Lady? _Iriador thought as she brushed out her hair. _Puck never mentioned the fact that she was a lady yesterday._ Iriador was slightly nervous as she followed the guide through even more twisting hallways and past numerous doors. Eventually they stopped before a pair of plain wooden doors.

"Go in, Lady Freya has been expecting you." The guide said. Luna nervously cleared her throat. 

"Umm….Could you show me the way out? Iriador and I were traveling together but we didn't come here for the same reason. This conference has nothing to do with me." 

"Luna?" Iriador said as she looked over at her friend curiously.

"Remember why I was coming her in the first place?" Luna reminded her. 

"Oh yeah…" 

"So you could you show me the front door? I have something I wish to do in the city." With a slight nod the servant gestured for Luna to follow her.

"This way then." She said as she walked away. Right before Luna disappeared from view she looked over at Iriador and mouthed the words "good luck" at her. Feeling a bit better Iriador opened the door and slipped inside. 

Inside the room seemed be more functional then ornate, a desk sat in the center of the room with a chair behind it. A few other chairs sat in front of it but they fancy, they looked more like the chairs that she would expect in a house in the city, comfortable and functional, nothing more. The few pieces of art decorated the room but they too were rather plain. As Iriador stepped into the room a Burmician standing by the desk looked up at her. A look of shock and surprise flashed across the Burmicians face and she dropped the papers she had been holding to the floor. 

"Dagger?" She said as she took a few steps toward Iriador. "Is that you Dagger?" 

"Sorry." Was the only think that Iriador could think to say.

"Oh." Iriador saw the look of disappoint that was quickly wiped from Freya's face. "Sorry, you reminded me of someone I once knew." 

"Didn't they tell you anything?" Iriador said surprised. "I'm Daggers _daughter_ Iriador." Freya looked at her in shock for a few seconds before a smile began to grow across her face. 

"Her……daughter? I suppose that's why you look so young. And they didn't tell me anything, uh Iriador right? Good. Puck simple said that I had someone "surprising" waiting to see me, just like him to not tell me anything important." 

"It seems like something he would do." Iriador agreed remember the way he acted. Freya chuckled and shook her head while shooing Iriador over to one of the seats. 

"You sound like our father." Freya sat at the desk across from Iriador and smiled. "Now, why are you here Iriador? Where are your parents? How are they doing?" 

"I'm here because of my parents, and I'm not sure where they are right now or even if they're still alive."

"What!" Freya leaned across her desk to look Iriador in the eyes. "What do you mean! Tell me what happened Iriador." Iriador gulped and then told Freya what had happened that day, then at her prompting told Freya what had happened after she started her journey up until she had been rescued by Puck. _But I can't tell her about that ice thing_. Iriador added silently in her mind _Even I'm not sure what happened over there._ After she finished Freya leaned back and closed her eyes. 

"So you don't know about your heritage or your parents past." The Burmician sighed and stood up. "I guess you'll have to go to Lindblum, things will go faster if you do." 

"WHAT!" Iriador jumped up and glared at her. "I have been chased from my home by mist monsters, I have been chased by dragons across half a country and nearly been killed. And all this because my parents have a strange past that they didn't tell me about! I want to know why so many people seem to know my Mom and Dad and I want to know NOW!" Iriador was astounded at the volume of her voice and she looked over at the Burmician to try and see what she had done. Iriador was astounded to see Lady Freya shaking with laughter and shaking her head once again. 

"You are truly Zidane's child!" She managed to gasp out. She put up a hand to stop Iriador from saying anything and tried to compose herself. "Iriador I would love to tell you about your parents but I can not. It's not simply because I can't really put in to words what I want to tell you. I have two very good reasons for waiting. You know what's been happening for the last few years, correct?" 

"I know that monsters have been attacking Genomes but that's about it." Iriador admitted. 

"It's not simply monsters attacking Genomes." Freya said as she started to pace. "Mist monster sightings have been increasing. Also reports of strange creatures have been coming in from all over the world, we don't know what these creatures are after, it's best if you're some where you can be kept safe." 

"Why would they be after me?" Iriador asked.

"I can't tell you right now, suffice it to say that it has something to do with the past." Iriador grumbled but agreed.

"That's one reason, what's the other one?" She asked 

"The other reason is simpler, it will be easier to explain when we get to Lindblum." 

"Why?" Iriador said curiously.

"You'll see when you get there." Freya said slightly frustrated. "Oh, I wish Frately were here to help me!" 

"Who's Frately?" 

"My husband you infuriating child. Now an airship leaves tomorrow, it will take us directly to Lindblum." 

"Your coming?" Iriador said surprised. 

"Yes." Freya said nodding. "Frately is there as well." She walked over to the door and opened it. "You'll have to wait the rest of the day in your room I'm afraid. The king is still furious that Puck put you in the palace without his consent, it will be easier for us to leave tomorrow if he forgets about you." 

"Alright." Iriador said as she walked out the door. The young genome missed the nostalgic smile that past across Freya's face. 

The rest of the day was spent either reading or napping, breaking only for lunch. She was reading another book, "I Want to be our Canary" By Lord Avon, when she heard the door open. She lowered her book in time to see Luna step through the door. She sat up as Luna thanked the servant who had shown her back to the rooms. Iriador was about to ask how it had gone but one look at her friends face told her the whole story. 

"No luck?" She asked anyway. Luna shook her head no and sat down on her bed. 

"I talked to a noble who said that he had heard of a Thann that went to Lindblum after the war though." She smiled sadly at Iriador. "I guess that means you're stuck with me a bit longer." 

"I don't think Freya will mind." Iriador said as she reached for her book again. 

"Did she tell you anything?" Luna asked her, Iriador made a face in reply.

"No, she said I would have to wait until I get to Lindblum."

"Why, I though Puck said she knew your parents." 

"She did, she said it will be simpler to tell the story after we get to Lindblum." Iriador said 

"Well at least you know you'll find something there." Luna said bluntly. Iriador winced. 

"Sorry you didn't find anything Luna." She said softly.

"I'm going to bed now." Luna replied. "Good night Iriador."

"'night Luna." 

__

Luna was much younger, about three or so as she crept toward the door, she had heard her mothers raised voice and she wanted to know what was going on. She peered out of a crack in the door and gazed around the richly furnished out to where her mother paced back and forth in front of a maid. A part of her compared the woman she saw before her with the mental image she carried from Daguerreo. While in the library her mother had kept her hair trimmed about shoulder length, here it fell in golden waves down to her waist. In the same context she had wore serviceable plain clothes were now she was clad in rich silk and jewels. 

"I can't stay here, not while Luna's life is in danger." She was saying to the maid. 

"Lady, why would they child's life be in danger?" The maid said in return. 

"Linda, you know who Luna is. If someone ever found out she would be killed, and I might be as well." 

"I really don't think the queen…." The maid began but her mother cut her off. 

"I'm not worried about Queen Garnet! People are looking for revenge and if they find out what Luna is the will kill her, they won't care that she is just a child and had nothing to do with it!" 

"Were will you go then?" Luna saw her mother stop for a second. 

"I really don't know. I can't go to any of the bigger cities, there is a chance she might be recognized, and I don't want to go to one of the smaller town." Her mother shook her head. "I don't know, I really don't know." Suddenly some knocked on the door to the room and she saw her mother stiffen in shock. 

"Lirale? Lirale, it's me, open up." A voice called out. 

"Dan." Her mother said reviled as she sank down into a chair motioning for her maid to open the door. Luna watched as a man stepped into the room, he had the same golden hair as her mother. 

"I found a place for you to go Li." 

"Where?" Her mother said sitting upright. 

"Daguerreo." He said simple

"What's that?" Her mother asked.

"Daguerreo, the Library island." He said as the dream faded out her mind.

Luna opened her eyes and glanced around the dark room. She sat for a minuet listing to her companions breath as her mind wandered. This was the fifth time she had had the dream since she had started looking for her family and each time she had tried to figure out what it meant. Each time she had come to the same conclusion: she was bastard child. It would certainly explain why her mother had never mentioned her fathers family and why she had isolated herself, Luna had always had trouble with the "troubled memories" excuse. The mage turned over and wondered what it would be like if she finally found her family only to have them not acknowledge her. After a few moments of troubling over she decided to wait and see what hands fate threw at her. After a few more minutes she fell back to sleep unaware of anything else. 

"TWICE!" The female screamed as she toward over her victim. She looked like a creature out of a nightmare, a pair of wings the color of dried blood rose from her shoulders and her bright red hair flowed down her shoulders. Her eyes had no pupils but were the same color as her hair and seemed to glow with a vicious light. The rest of her face was pretty enough but fore the pointed fangs in her mouth and the forked tongue that hissed out from between her lips. 

"TWICE!" She repeated as she slammed her down once again, the talons on her fingers drawing blood. "TWICE you failed me!" 

"Sorry." The figure at her feet whimpered. "Sorry sister I didn't mea….."

"What did you say!" Her older sister screamed as she slapped her once again. The younger of the two looked up, her immature wings were small and still bore the pink color that proclaimed her a child. Her eyes and hair were pink as well and her teeth had yet to develop points. 

"Sorry Hectra, sorry. B..but they had m..magic and I don't know how to…." 

"Don't give me excuses!" Hectra fumed. "I let you try and get it two times and you failed me each time!" She glared down. "But because you're my sister I will give you one more chance, but just one more, is that clear!" 

"Y…yes it is Hectra, it's clear." The younger one stood up bowed to her sister and then ran out of the room as fast as she was able. 

"She does have a point." A voice behind Hectra said. "If they have strong magic then she cannot combat it without knowing any herself." 

"Don't take her side!" Hectra shouted and stuck out as the figure behind her. However her claws pasted right through the ghost and sparks flew as she stuck the stone wall. She cursed and the looked over at it. 

"Then what would you have me do? Teach her magic?" She said. 

"If that would enable her to fulfill her task then yes, you should teach her at least the simple spells." Hectra laughed out loud at the proposal.

"What! Teach her magic so that she might one-day turn on me! You're a fine one to be lecturing me, look what happened when you taught you underlings magic!" 

"That's beside the point really. But if you are so afraid of her then it shows just how weak you really are!" Hectra seemed to bristle at the comment.

"Please remember Garland that it I hadn't need your knowledge you will still be a ghost wandering Gaia!" 

"But you did need my knowledge so you trapped me in this foolish alliance." Garland said glaring at her. "And if you do not fulfill our end of the bargain then I will show you the power a ghost really has over mortals." 

"Don't worry Garland." Hectra said as she examined her nails. "Once the Ultima Weapon is in my grasp then you shall have a body." She walked over the far side of the wall and ran her nails down it delighting in the noise that occurred. "It sickens me that those foolish Genomes have it when they cannot begin to fathom the power sealed in it's blades." Hectra grinned and closed her fist and smiled at him. "When I get it you shall have a body Garland and I…" She looked up. "I shall have all the power I can wish for!" 

Plantress: Well Iriador got to Burmicia and a new villain has appeared. I'm happy! Anyway I would first like to thank all the people to who reviewed, it really meant a lot to me. And I want to apologize for the long update time, I had this half written awhile ago but my birthday came around and my mom bought me Xenosaga so I was glued to my PS2. ^^ Anyway a couple things before I go : 

First before some complains about this: I know that Shiva is considered a "Second Level Summons" but Ramuh and Fenrir really didn't appeal to me, so I choose Shiva instead. Also I hope you liked the summon chant I made up, it was fun to think of.

Secondly, I hope that everyone approves of the way I used Puck and Freya in the story, they might be acting a little OOC but I put it down to the fact that it's been twenty years and they had time to "Grow up." 

One last thing: I think I confused a couple people because I kept referring to Luna as a black mage. When I use it for her I don't mean a black mage like Vivi, I mean some one who uses black magic. For example Lulu from Final Fantasy X is called a black mage as well. Sorry for the confusion. 

Ok, Thanks for reading and please review! I'm motivated to write more when people tell me what they like about my stories. So R & R! Please and Thank you! 


	4. Gizamalukes Grotto

I do not own Final Fantasy IX at all, but however I do own Luna, Iriador and Hectra.

****

Forgotten Birthright

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Chapter Four: Gizamalukes Grotto

Light shining on her eyes woke Iriador the next morning. Grumbling she opened one eye and glared at the sun as it peaked in through the open curtains.

"Could have sworn I closed them last night." She grumbled as she turned over and pulled the covers over her head. She hadn't had a chance to have a really good sleep over the last few days. Riding for two days without any rest would have been bad enough but it wasn't just that. Her father had made sure to drill one lesson into her early on: only an idiot slept without someone on watch when they were outside of the cities. Luna had helped her but last night was the first time she had gotten a good nights sleep in since she left home. She sighed and closed her eyes full intending to go back to sleep.

"Are you going to sleep all day?" She heard Luna ask in an amused tone.

"Maybe" She grumbled and pulled the covers father over her head. She tired to get back to sleep but the inticing smell of breakfast crept through the blankets. Cautiously she peaked out and saw Luna sitting at the small table that was in their room, grinning. When she saw her companion looking in her direction she picked up one of the muffins and took a bite. Iriador stuck her tongue out at her companion then tried to turn around and go back to sleep…but her stomach let out a growl at that exact moment and she heard Luna laughing. With a disgusted snort the young woman through the blankets off her body. "Fine! If everyone is so intent on ruining my beauty sleep, then I suppose I might as well get out of bed." She grumbled as she rolled of the bed and padded over to the table.

"Beauty sleep?" Luna inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, shut up Luna." The black-haired girl growled as she sat down to eat.

"That isn't a very nice good morning." The mage commented.

"It's to early to be nice." Iriador shoot back.

"Iriador, it's nearly ten-thirty."

"WHAT!?" She looked up shocked. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I have been up since seven and I didn't think that you were normally and early riser I let you sleep." The mage smiled ruefully. "Besides I wanted to explore. This is the first time I've been in a palace." 

"Mine too you know! I would've went with you!" 

"I wanted to explore alone." 

"Selfish little b…!"

"Iriador language." 

"Oh shut up!" Iriador finished her breakfast and looked up in time to see her companion opening the door. "Where are you going now?" Luna looked back at her.

"I talked to one of the servants when the brought the meal. They said that they would have a map of Lindblum ready for me in the Library after we had eaten."

"Oh. A map was a good idea though."

"I know. Now get dressed, and maybe when I come back you won't be try to bite my head off." The mage shut the door behind her and Iriador winced. She had been a bit snappish to Luna but it wasn't her fault. She didn't really know what was happening anymore. Back at home things had been simple, she helped Dad tend the Chocobos in the morning and then when he went to town Mom had taught her to read. Later, if there was enough light left, Dad would giver her weapons lessons or taker her monster hunting. Now thought…everything was going to fast for her. The picture she had help of her parents, simple people who liked to live a quite life, was being shattered. They were friends with one of the eight heroes, and knew _someone_ high up in Lindblum. It didn't make sense, how could her mother, a woman who went out of her way to avoid people whenever possible know someone that powerful? It didn't make sense but then nothing did anymore, at least not to her. With a sigh Iriador picked up her clothes and changed out of her nightgown. Freya had better keep her promise and tell her everything once they got to Lindblum or she might go mad because of the questions buzzing around in her skull. The Summoner was running a brush through her hair when someone knocked on the door. 

"Are you dressed yet Iriador?" Luna's voice called out. 

"Yeah!" She yelled back. The door opened and Luna walked with Puck right behind her. 

"Good morning Pu… I mean Good morning your highness." The prince waved a hand.

"'s okay, no one's with me. You two ready to leave yet?" He asked.

"Almost." She answered as she pulled her hair back into a braid. As soon as she was done she quickly stuffed the few items that she had taken out back into her bag. "Ready."

"Finally" Luna remarked as she adjusted the pack one her back. Iriador shoot her friend a look as the walked out the door but because she wasn't going to say anything rude to her with Puck around, stuck her tongue out at the mage instead. Luna frowned then mouthed the word "juvenile" at Iriador as the rounded a corner. After several minuets of walking Puck lead them to the front door of the castle. 

"Don't people get lost in there?" Iriador asked him as the exited the palace. 

"Eh, once in a while…." The Prince answered hesitantly.

"Then why did you build like that? It seems more like a maze than a castle!" The raven-haired Summoner said pointedly.

"Yeah, it took me at least fifteen minuets to find my way back to our room this morning." Luna chimed in. "Who designed it like that in the first place?" 

"Welllll….." Puck looked slightly embarrassed. "It was my old man's idea. He wanted Burmicia to be rebuilt better than it was before the war, so he got a bunch of weird architects to design the palace. One of 'um had some really weird ideas, but we couldn't get most of them to work. The place ended up with more hallways then we could ever use and stair cases that go nowhere." He shrugged. "I kinda got use to it after a while."

"What was the architect's name?" Luna asked, curiously. 

"Can't really remember, think it was Esther or somethin' like that…Hey there's the air ship!" The Prince grinned and pointed toward the landing area. A large cargo ship hovered there, the crest of Lindblum clear even from this distance. "Come on! Don't want to keep Lady Freya waiting do ya?" 

"Course not!" Iriador said as all three of them broke into a run. "I want to know what's going on!" 

By the time they had reached the airship, most of the goods had been already been loaded. As the walked up to the ramp, several of the crewmen lead Star up it. Upon seeing her owner the Chocobo stopped and kwehed at her. One of the crewmen gave another tug on her reins and shouted something at the bird. With a muffled wark Comet began to move. Iriador tried to stifle her giggle as her Chocobo was loaded on board. As she watched a sudden thought occurred to her. 

"How long will it take us to get to Lindblum?" She asked Luna

"How I am I suppose to know?" The silver haired mage snapped. Iriador blinked and opened her mouth to ask what was the matter but Puck cut her off.

"'bout an hour or so." The prince stated. "It's not really that far from here really but you've got the mountains in between us so it takes longer on foot."

"There's a way to get though the mountains on foot?" Iriador asked curiously. She only knew about the North and South Gates that were around Alexandria.

"Sure. If you go north…" Puck waved his hand in that general direction. "You reach Gilmazukes Grotto. If you manage to get through there then you end up on the other side of the mountains. From there, if you go straight it's less then half a days ride away from Lindblum" 

"What do your mean 'if you get through'? Are the monsters in there particular tough or something?" The Summoner wanted to know. Puck snorted.

"Nah, but the guards won't let just anyone through, Master Gilmazuke won't allow it. You have to have written permission from the king or an official like Freya to get through. Goes the same way if you try to come back to Burmicia, 'cept you have to have something from Lindblum instead." Iriador was trying to figure out a tactful way to ask whom Master Gizamaluke was when a Freya's voice sounded from behind them. 

"Good Morning, Iriador, Luna. Greetings Your Highness." The advisor said as she walked up to the trio.

"Morning Lady Freya." Iriador responded.

"Good Morning."

"Hey, Freya"

"Did you sleep well?" She asked the two girls. 

"Yes." Was Luna's response. Iriador grinned.

"Yeah. It was nice having a bed to sleep in after camping out for the past few days." Lady Freya, Advisor to the King of Burmicia looked at the young woman and laughed. 

"That almost sounds like something Zidane would say…." She grinned. 

"How do you know my father anyway?" The young woman asked suddenly. She hopped she could startled Freya into giving her a straight answer. The advisor opened her mouth, then closed it again and smiled.

"Nice try Iriador, but I already told you it will be easier to explain once we get to Lindblum." She said.

"Man." The Summoner grumbled as she kicked at the ground before heading toward the airship with a dejected sigh. "It was worth a try." Luna shook her head and followed her friend. Freya chuckled and turned to follow them just as a siren pierced the dawn quiet. 

SCCCCCCCCCCCCCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

"What in the hell is that sound?" Iriador screamed as she tried to make herself heard over the racket.

"'s the alarm, but it's only used in major emergencies!" Puck shouted back at her.   


"Somebody go and find out what this is all about!" Freya shouted at the soldiers that had been accompanying her. "I want to know why…."

"Lady Freya!" Someone shouted. Everyone turned just as the alarm quite ringing! "I need Lady Freya!" A Burmician soldier panted as he raced into the square. 

"I'm here." The female Burmician stepped forward. "What is it? What's going on."

"Lady Freya, it's the mist monsters!" He gasped out

"What about them?" Freya asked frowning.

"They're attacking!" 

"What!?" Before the messenger could elaborate an explosion sounded from near the city walls. 

"Over there!" Iriador heard one of the guard shout and point toward the sound of the explosion. The Summoner followed the direction of his finger and gasped. A large ironite hovered over the city it's white hide almost glowing in the early morning sun. The dragon opened it's mouth and let out a roar, which was followed almost immediately by the beasts flame attack. Behind it more of it's kind flew over the wall and zipped toward other parts of the city, leaving destruction in their wake. Behind her someone cursed.

"Lady Freya, what should we do now!?" The messenger was almost panicking as he looked at the advisor.

"Tell the General to send guards to secure the palace. Evacuate as many people as possible to the palace, it's the most secure location in the city. Make sure there are soldiers available to guard the civilians as the make there way there. Those are my direct orders, make sure the General gets them! Go!" With a hurried salute the messenger turned and ran toward the center of the city. As Freya turned to shouting orders to the guards Iriador just stood their frozen. _This is like……exactly like….._ The Summoner gulped. _ What happened back home._ From the corner of her eye she saw Freya grab Pucks arm and whisper something into his ear. However her mind was replaying the events that lead up to her flight from her house. Her mothers strange behavior, her fathers suggestion, buying the supplies….then…then the Mistadons charging into town. 

"Are you alright?" Luna's voice interrupted her daydream. The young woman shook her head and looked over at the mage.

"Fine." She said dully.

"Iriador, Luna! Over here!" Freya called out and beckoned for the two of them. The two dodged a few soldiers as the ran over to join the Burmician. She began to speak the moment they were within ear shoot. "Iriador I am sorry but we won't be able to get off the ground, not surround by dragons anyway. And I won't be able to come to Lindblum with you, Burmicia has survived worse things but we have wounded and property damage. I'll be needed here, to help the King manage things."

"Then what are we suppose to do?" Iriador asked. The Summoner could feel her heart hammering as she asked because she had a sinking feeling that she knew that answer. 

"I thought something like this would happen, even if I was hoping it wouldn't." Iriador blinked at Freya, she had suspected something like this would happen? Why? She had to know. 

"I had a backup plan just in case." Puck came up behind her leading Comet by the reins. Freya took them and handed them to Iriador. Then with a sigh Freya took a small envelope out of her pocket. "I had hopped it wouldn't come to this." She said as she handed it over. Puzzled Iriador took it.

"What is this?" She asked Freya. The advisor grinned tiredly. 

"It's a letter of the guards and Gizamalukes Grotto. It should get you through." A dragon screamed close to their position. Freya glanced in the direction the noise had come from, an alarmed look on her face. "You have go, _now_!" 

"Why are you….." Luna started to ask.

"No time for questions!" Freya grabbed Iriadors shoulders and pushed toward a small alleyway. "Follow that alley. There's a door to the tunnel that leads to outside the city at the end, his majesty had it built for emergencies just like this. Outside the city go north until you reach Gizamalukes Grotto, the guards will tell you where to go once you reach the other side, now GO!!!" The advisor gave her a push and then turned and ran toward the other side of the square, shouting orders as she did. 

"Freya…." Iriador paused for a second looking back before Luna grabbed her arm. 

"Come on!" The mage said and tugged her toward the alley. "We don't have time for this!" Iriador glanced back once more before she turned and followed her friend. They weren't far into the narrow street when a screech announced the arrival of an ironite right over there heads. Iriador reached for her mace, heart hammering in her ribs, but before she could do anything a streak of lighting rammed into the dragon. With a scream the monster flew out of their line of vision. 

"Th..thanks." Iriadors stammer out.

"No problem." Luna replied. "But I will say this Iriador, traveling with you had been the most….interesting experience of my life!" With a helpless shrug the Summoner grinned and started forward once again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Freya watched the Iriador and her friend run away from the battle, eyes showing worry. It wasn't the battle that had her concerned, she wasn't even remotely worried about that. Iornites were weak and the average Burmician soldier was more than a match for a dragon. The only reason that there were any dragon still in the city was because there were so many!   


"Freya!" She turned around and greeted Puck as he walked up. He was carrying a spear that dripped blood and had a scratch on his arm. "You sure it's a good to send them off like that? We can clear these things out in a couple of hours and I'm sure you can convince my Dad to let you go with 'um…." Freya shook her head.

"No. It's better this way." 

"Huh?" The Burmician Prince scratched his head and looked over her. "Wha…?" Freya looked over at him, eyes solemn. 

"Gaia had been at peace for over a decade Puck. We have had mist monsters to worry about, sure, but nothing serious. Now, exactly eighteen years after Dagger left Alexandria the mist monsters have suddenly become more numerous, more aggressive. Something has started to attack Genomes as well" Freya's voice was the most serious that Puck had ever heard it. "and the only heir to the throne of Alexandria happens to be half-genome." 

"Shit!" Puck swore and looked over at her with wide eyes. "You don't mean that…"

"Someone knows who Iriador is…..someone powerful. If she were traveling by airship it would be easy for someone to track her. Maybe whoever wants her will lose Iriador if she follows the ground route…or at least that's what I hope." 

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"Are you sure this is the place?" 

"Do you see anymore doors around here!?" Iriador glanced skeptically at the door once more.

"If you really think this is the place…"

"I'm sure, this has to be it!!!" Luna growled and glared at the younger woman. This was at least the tenth time she had asked the same inane question. Still the mage had to admit that Iriador had a point. The door looked like it was made of bronze, but it was hard to tell since the years had turned it green. The atmosphere her, like the rest of Burmicia, was wet and moss and started to grow on the rocks around the portal giving it the appearance of immobility. About the only sign that anyone had visited the area recently was the cleared area where the door swung open the footprints that lead up to the door. 

"Fine, you don't have to so huffy." Iriador commented as she walked up and knocked on the door. Immediately a small door at the top slide back and one of the Burmician soldiers glared out at them. 

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" However was on the other side of the portal snapped out in annoyance. "No one is allowed to go through the Grotto!" 

"Talk about rude!" Iriador muttered under her breath to Luna before she spoke up. "Iriador Tribal and Luna Thann, we have permission from Lady Freya to take to go through Gizamalukes Grotto." 

"Lady Freya?" The guard sounded surprised but then he glared at them suspiciously. "How do I know your not lying?" 

"Look we have a letter!" Iriador waved the piece of paper at the guard. "Read it if you don't believe us!" 

"Hold on." The guard instructed before he closed the door at the top. Within a few seconds a small bell rang somewhere. Almost immediately the door creaked open and revealing the guard that they had been talking too stood in the threshold frowning. "Let's see it." He held out his hand. 

"Here." Iriador handed the paper over. As the guard read the letter the two young women peered over his shoulder. Behind the door was as a small room that seemed to serve as a guard post. Right across from where they were standing there another door, only this one was open. From where they were standing the young women could see what looked like a long walkway that lead deeper into the Grotto. 

"How do I know this isn't a fake?" The guard looked up at them suspiciously. The Summoner blinked at him. 

"It's not" She said confused. 

"Prove it." The guard demanded. "Show me proof that this isn't a forgery." 

"Proof, PROOF!" Luna forced her way passed Iriador and glared up at the guard. "Look, _Sir_, I have been chased halfway across the continent in the last week or so. I have faced Ironites and Grand Dragons. I have risked my life over and over so I can get to Lindblum! Now you" She poked a finger at the guard who took an involuntary step backwards. "want me to show you proof! Bah!" The mage threw her hands in the air and turned on her heel. "Come on Iriador, lets see if we can some other way to get to Lindblum!" She said as she grabbed the Summoners hand. 

"Luna, wait!" The younger woman protested. The guard had been staring at them with his mouth open but now managed to recovers some of his wits. 

"Then go!" He snapped at them. "and good riddance!" Luna opened her mouth to reply but something cut her.

__

Let them through. Iriador blinked and rubbed her ears. She couldn't tell whether she was hearing the voice with her ears or her mind or both. 

"Master Gizamaluke!" The Guard spun around and looked over at the open door. "Why would you…"

__

Just let them through. Iriador hear/felt him say. She gulped. No one, except the Burmicians, knew who or what Master Gizamaluke was. It looked like she was going to find out. 

"Very well Master." The guard sighed and motioned them inside. He glared when Comet ducked to come through the opening. "Do you have to bring that!?" He demanded. 

"Yes." Iriador said and tightened her grip on the reins. The guard looked like he was going to argue but then he decided better. 

"Fine, follow me." He lead them through the door at the other end of the chamber. The emerged onto a walkway that was surrounded by water. On the left side the water was clear all the up to the wall but on the left….. Iriador took a step backwards as she looked up into a the snake like face of Master Gizamaluke. She would have known who it was even if the Guard hadn't bowed to him. The Summoner couldn't tell for sure how she knew, she just did. Gizamaluke didn't say anything more as they made their way through the chamber and Iriador was glade for that. Somehow she didn't think she could stand talking with him face to face. But as she passed into the next cavern she could have sworn she hear a voice whisper in her mind. 

__

Good luck Summoner. And because no one glanced her way she knew it was a message for her and her alone.

"What is he?" She asked the guard as soon as they were out of ear shoot. 

"I don't know." He admitted. "They say that he was here when this place was first discovered but no one knows how he got here or why he was there. All we do know is that he's very old and very wise."  


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For her perch onto of a mountain Psyche watched her prey disappear into the mountain. She ruffled her immature wings and winced. Hectra wouldn't like it. She had failed for the third time. But it wasn't her fault really, she didn't know that the girl would run off with the Ultima Weapon that first time and then she hadn't known that the girl could summon, Garland had said she was too young to be able. _Showed what he knows. _She thought as she watched the door that they had disappeared into. Psyche winced as she thought of the punishment that awaited her when she returned home empty handed. Hectra wouldn't kill her….at least she hoped that she couldn't. Her older sister had changed so much in the last few years that she was almost unrecognizable 

Hectra had never what you could call kind to her younger sister but she had mostly ignored Psyche anyway and the younger girl had been comfortable with that. On the few occasions when she had tried to help her "big sis" she had been driven away. According to Hectra it was because she was too young to remember the War and wouldn't understand. Psyche had accepted this and had been moderately happy with her life. But now….

Ever since Hectra had made that deal with Garland she had become more savage and unpredictable, expecting Psyche to be able to do things that she hadn't been taught to or were beyond her abilities, then punishing her when she failed. Garland always hung around and watched. Psyche had a suspicion that he was causing Hectra to acted this way but she couldn't prove. Besides if the tried to tell her sister then Hectra would simply beat her and not listen. A sudden chirp and at her feet snapped the girl back to reality. She grinned down at the small Mu that was sitting at her feet. 

"I suppose we should stop the battle before anyone else gets hurt, huh?" She asked it and scratched it behind the ears. She tried to spread her wings but winced when the stretched farther then they should be able to at this point in her growth. Psyche couldn't wait until her wings were able to carry her in flight but until then…. She reached up letting out a long whistle and almost immediately the ironite that had been dozing higher up on the mountain woke up and glided down to her. _I'll use someone else's wings._ She thought as she mounted the dragon. As the flew toward Burmicia Psyche couldn't help glancing back at the door into Gizamalukes Grotto, an old phrase flirting through her mind as she did so. 

__

Remember….our kind may be able to control the Mist Monster that populate our world but the Summoners control the Eidolons. This is the way it always has been and the way it always will be.

__

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Iriador couldn't help letting out a small sigh of relief when the reached from Gizamalukes Grotto. As their guide showed the guards at this end the letter the Summoner puzzled over something that the guard had said. It had taken them longer than it should have to get through the tunnels, mostly because of the monsters that seemed to be everywhere. 

__

"Why don't you just wipe them out?" Luna asked furiously after she had killed her fourth monster. "It would make this a lot easier for travelers."

"Travelers aren't suppose to come through here." The guard answered. "And we have killed all the monster in here before, they just keep coming back. Besides it's not as bad as you think, they don't come into Master Gizamalukes grotto or the guard houses."

"But why do the monster come back?" Iriador couldn't help muttering. Luna nudged her but none of the guards had heard. 

"Okay, you can go through." One of the guards ran ahead and opened the door. "Just go straight once you get out of the valley. You should find Lindblum's Dragon's Gate with no trouble." As soon as she was clear of the tunnel Iriador dropped Comet's reins and stretched. 

"It's good to be out there!" The black-haired girl exclaimed. 

"Iriador, Shush!" Luna hissed but the door to the Grotto was already closed. 

"What are you waiting for?" Iriador asked as she grabbed Comets reins and jumped on to the Chocobos back. "Let's go!"

"Fine." The mage grumbled and got on behind her. With a quick kick Iriador started the Chocobo forward.

Both girls were glad that their directions were accurate. It was a straight line to Lindblum and on a gold Chocobo like Comet it didn't take that long, even with a detour.

"I don't' care Iriador! I am not wading through a swamp! Just go around it!" 

Now at last they both stood in front of the Dragon Gate. 

"Are you ready?" Iriador gulped and looked over at Luna.

"As ready as I'll ever be." The Summoner answered. 

"Then lets go." Luna hopped down and started toward the Gate. Iriador stayed on Comet's back for a few more seconds before she took a deep breath and followed the mage.

"Fine." She said weakly as she stared up at the Gates. Gates that lead to answers that Iriador was being to wonder if she really wanted to know.

__

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AN: Okay, Okay over six months since I last updated and I'm really sorry! I just had a lot of trouble figuring out how to start this chapter and then things kept me from finishing it. Again I'm sorry. Anyway, not much happened in this chapter besides some characterization and moving the Luna and Iriador. Next chapter however they will reached Lindblum! I'm not going to give anything away but expect a few more "old faces" to show up! 

Anyway I want to thank everyone who bothered to review this, it's because of you that this is my most popular fic! And I would also like to give special thanks to anyone who put me on their favorite author/author alert lists! It's nice to know that I'm that well liked! 

And as soon as I finish the next chapter of Dragoons of the Sacred Jewel (which is half finished) I will immediately start word on Chapter five! Promise! 

Thanks again and R &R.

--Plantress


	5. Lindblum

Do I really have to say it? Me no own Final Fantasy IX! I do own my original characters though.

**Forgotten Birthright**

_Lindblum_

Iriador stared up at the gate that lead into Lindblum, the biggest city in the world and wondered if she really wanted go through it. Before, when she had been traveling and fighting for her life it had been easy to focus only on specific goals. _Survive this fight, go there next, get to Lindblum. _However now that she was here, with the Dragon Gate not just some abstract reality in her mind but a real place, she found herself asking the questions that she had kept pushing to the back of her mind. _Do I really want to do this? _When, **if **she went Iriador knew that everything would change. There would be no more unanswered questions. She would know the truth about everything, know why her parents had been attacked and more importantly what the were. But did she really want to know? Up until now she had been able to pretend that those people all the important and powerful people had about weren't really her parents. They couldn't have been right? Why would her parent, farmers, know the leaders of several countries? But now, with those answers literally looming over her Iriador wasn't sure she really wanted them. But what could she do? Go back home to who knew what? The summoner gripped her reins tightly. _I don't want to do this, I **really **don't want to do this. _What she wanted to do was wake up and have this whole thing be a nightmare. She had been hoping that since she had rode away but now…. Never before in her life had she felt this nervous and apprehensive before….even in Bulmica she hadn't been this frightened.

"Iria….Iri…Iriador!" Luna's voice snapped the younger girl out of her trance. Iriardor looked down to find that the black mage had dismounted and was now staring up at her, pointedly tapping once foot.

"Are you waiting for them to send a written invitation our or something? Come on, lets get going." Tossing silver hair over her shoulder the black mage strode toward the city. But the Iriador just sat their letting her black hair be blown every which way by the wind. When Luna realized that her friend wasn't following her, she turned around.

"What in the hell are you doing back there Iria?" She yelled. "Come on."

"Yo…you go on ahead. I'll catch up." Iriador yelled back half heartedly. A frown crossed Luna's face then she sighed and turned back to where her friend was standing.

"What 's the matter now?" The older girl asked as she glared up at the summoner. Iriador froze then forced a smile.

"Nothing's wrong." Iriador said as causally as she could. "I said I would catch up, did I?"

"But why 'catch up'? The only thing out here is monsters, mist and more monsters, not to mention whoever been sending all those monsters after us! Why do you want to stay out here? The city's right in front of us!"

"I just want to, that's all!" The summoner snapped back. Luna gave her a _look_.

"I don't care if you want to stay out here or not Iriador but don't you think it's a bit childish to refuse to go in because your afraid?"

"I'm not afraid." Iriador yelled then blushed when she realized how well, _childish_ the outburst had sounded.

"Sure you're not. Just keep telling yourself that and you might start to believe. Luna said sarcastically. Then the mage sighed. "I know this is the biggest city we've been to so far, heck is the biggest city in the world! I'm a little nervous too you know! Just try to remember that we're really just two more travelers in the hundred or so that come through her each day. I don't think anyone is going to notice us."

"I'm not scared of a bunch of strangers!" Iriador snapped back. "We've been talking strangers all along haven't we?"

"They what are you so afraid of?" Luna glared at the younger girl. Iriador stared down out her and opened her mouth to reply…then stopped. What exactly was she afraid of? Finding out who her parents were she supposed….but why would she be scare of that.? Didn't she want to know? Most people would. _But I don't want to! I want to go home and …._ Iriador froze. She wanted to go home. Go back to the way things had been before the mist monsters had attacked them.

"What's the matter, cat go your tongue?" The sharp voice of her companion cut through the fog in her mind and she swallowed.

"Luna?" She asked softly, as she stared down at her hands.

"What now?" the mage snapped.

"Have you ever been….scared?" At Luna's puzzled looked she swallowed. "I mean…of what will happen to you and everything? Haven't you ever wondered if they'll hate you or something?"

"Course." Luna snorted. "But it's not like I'll let that stop me. If they hate me, they hate me, if the don't', they don't. It's not like I can't change the past or the future." The mage tugged on Comet's reins. "I can't spent all of my time being afraid. All I can do is counties on and hope for the best."

"Oh." Iriador dismounted. Although it wasn't exactly sure she was happy with the answer, it wasn't like she could stop. They had to do this. After she had found everything out…she'd deal with it then. Until they reached that goal, she would pretend this was an adventure.

"Let's go!" The summoner said as they walked toward the gates.

The area immediately inside had been a little disappointed to Iriador. There were only a few merchants and some travelers waiting their turns to go up to the city. A guard had taken Star's reigns then informed them that they didn't have permission to take her into the city and that she would have to stay in the stables that had recently been built…and it would cost them. Iriador had paid, while Luna had grumbled and complained. They had then waited in line for a few minuets, until it was their turn to ride the lift up to the castle proper.

If the area inside the gate had been a disappointment, the first level of the castle was everything that Iriador thought it would be. This was the level where everyday concerns were taken care of. Foot -travelers got information and meet friends here, while merchants were forced to show what goods they were bringing in. There were members of almost every race, even a couple of Burmicians talking an official.

Yet this wasn't Iriador's goal. She had managed to get some information and knew that the real business of running this city was done upstairs. The commoner's eyes settled on a staircase and she ran toward it.

"Iriador, wait!" She heard Luna yell, but ignored her friend. She hadn't come this far only to be stopped now. Only she had barely gone up the steps when she was stopped.

"Halt." The guard said. "Only those with legitimate business in the palace may proceed past this point"

"My business is legitimate!" Iriador said.

"What is your name and the nature of your business?" The guard asked. Iriador frowned.

"It's Iriador Tribal and umm…" Truthfully she didn't really know what her business was. "I just have to see the Queen or someone in charge. My Father said so." The guard just sighed.

"If you do not have legitimate business then I will have to ask you to leave." The man said in a monotone voice.

"I already to you, my business is legitimate!" Iriador snapped. "Now let me pass." The young woman took a few steps forward, only to the guards spear drop down in front of her.

"If you do not leave I will be forced to use force." The guard said firmly. Iriador gulped, but before he could do anything else, a hand grabbed her elbow.

"Don't worry, we're leaving." Luna said and dragged her friend down the stairs.

"Luna! What did you do that for!?"

"I just saved you from being thrown in the dungeons, that's what." The black mage turned around and glared at her friend. "Did you honestly think that would work. The guard is there for a reason. Lot's of people want to see the Queen, he has to make sure she doesn't get a lot of people wandering around upstairs."

"But then what are we suppose to do? I have to get up there!"

"Did your Dad give you a plan B or something?"

"Actually he did…."

"Good, then we'll try that one first." And with that said, Luan dragged her friend out into the city of Lindblum.

Iriador gazed around, absorbing the bustle of the big city and enjoying the fact that there were so many sights and sounds that it made her dizzy. She had never in her life dreamed that there could be so many people in one place before. Oddly enough instead of making her feel confused she as actually felt exhilarated. Luna snorted as someone jostled the two of them on the way to the monorail that ran though the city.

"I hate this noise. Now where are we suppose to be going again?"

"Uhh…a big clock tower. That's where Dad said to go if I had any trouble."

"And this clock tower is where?" Iriador though for a second then giggled nervously.

"Hehe…I forgot."

"WHAT?" Luna glared at her. "How in the hell did you manage to forget something that important!?"

"I was busy running for my life, fighting monsters…I could continue, but you were there Luna!" Iriador snapped back.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Sorry!" The mage sighed then dropped her head into her hand. "Okay…I think the first order of business is to find an inn. After we have rooms we can make a plan." Iriador nodded and followed Luan down into the city. It was actually very easy to find a room. The money they had gained killing monsters more than covered the price of their rooms.

"Look" Luna said as they got settled in. "this city is exhausting me and I don't feel like running around trying to find your mysterious clock tower today. I've got a head ache and I'm going to go lay down and take a nap."

"Come on Luna!" Iria complained. "You've got reasons for being here too! For all we know our goals are just a flight of stairs away once we get into the place. We should be trying to get in right now! Why do we have to wait!?"

"_We _don't have to. You can go annoy the guards in the palace more if you want to…or at least you can until they get tired of the noise and throw you out." Luna made a shooing motion with her hand. "Now go. I'm tired, and truthfully I doubt if anyone or anything will try something in a city as big as Lindblum. People will be bound to notice a bunch of monsters wandering around in here. We can wait one more day." The mage started to close the door to her room then stopped.

"Iria, if your really bored why don't you go out and try to find that clock tower of yours? IF it exists I'm sure someone has heard something about it. Now go!" Luna waved a hand at Iriador in dismissal before stepping into her room and closing the door. For several seconds the summoner stood staring at the blank wooden surface then sighed and walked away. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep, at least not yet, so she would try and follow Luna's suggestion. Or at least go out and look around some who might know something useful.

Outside the quite of the inn, Iriador entered a different world than any she was used too. In Bulmicia they had been rushed to the palace, and truthfully the Burmicians weren't a loud race at any time. Iriador really hadn't had a chance to see a large center of population before. Lindblum made up for that lack however. All around her various people were wandering around talking, walking, bargaining with street vendors. Children played under foot and hundreds of voices filled the air. Like before Iriador found the sound exhilarating, even though she knew she should have felt overwhelmed. The summoner walked down the street, turning her head and wishing she had several more sets of eyes as she tried to look everywhere at once. Well everywhere except toward her purse. That was why when someone bombed into her it was several seconds before she noticed that her purse and all her money was gone.

"Hey!" She shouted as she caught sight of the man who had bumped into her. The thief had been wearing a blue cap for some reason and she caught was able to pick him out easily "Get back here!" The thief took off and Iriador followed, dodging thought the crowed. Soon the summoner realized that although she was faster than her prey, he was much more experienced at moving through the crowds and she kept losing sight of him. She shoot out of the crowd into a clear space and paused. The young woman caught sight of a flash of blue disappearing down and alley. Without hesitation she followed. Turning the corner, she caught sight of the thief. Apparently confident that his prey wouldn't dare follow him into his territory, the thief had slowed to a walk.

"Gotcha!" He whirled around then swore in surprise and took off running again. The thief dodged through several other alleyways before ran into a smaller one. Before Iriador reached the mouth of the alley she heard a yelp from within. The summoner skidded to a halt in front of the alley and stared. The thief was sitting on the ground rubbing his head. Standing in front of him was a young man with long red hair who looked to be near her age. He looked more surprised than anything else.

"Hey, you!" The thief turned around and paled then started to scramble back to his feet. "Give me my money back!" With a last glance back the pickpocket tried to run by the red-head, who reached out and grabbed his arm. Both the thief and the summoner stared at him in surprise.

"Did ye take the lady's purse?" The younger man drawled. The thief tried to stammer something but the red-head shook him. "And do'n ye even think about lying to me now, I can smell a lair like you a mile off." The pickpocket looked shaken now. "I'll be asking ye again, did ye steal the ladies purse?" He shook the thief again, only harder this time. The pickpocket looked up at his captor and gulped. Hard dark-green eyes glared at him and the pickpocket could see the twin hilts that poked over his shoulders.. Meekly the thief nodded in answer to the question.

"Good, now ye will be givin' it back to her, won't ye?" The thief hesitated. "Won't ye!!" The last was punctuated by a quick shake. The thief nodded quickly and the red-head loosened his hold on the smaller man. The pickpocket turned and threw Iriadors purse in her direction then ran past the red-head before they could react.

Both Iriador and the stranger stood looking after the man, then turned back and stared at each other for a few minuets. Iriador offered him a tentative smile as she reached down to pick up her purse.

"Um..thanks for the help." She said as she straightened up. The stranger smiled back and laughed.

"Twas nothing, lady. I'm not likely to be getting too many chances to help a pretty girl in distress, am I now?" He looked around.

"But…ye be here alone? Tis a risky place for a woman to be runnin' around on her own." Iriador glared at him.

"It's not like I had a choice, he took all my money! Luna would have skinned me when I went back to the inn!" The man looked closer at her.

"So ye be a stranger to this here town then. I was wondern' why ye dared to chase that man in to the alleys, and wonderin' if ye be just a reckless fool or a foolish innocent, but twas you're an innocent, ain't it?" Iriador swore internally. She didn't want him to know that. Although he had helped her, she didn't know what this young man had done so. Besides even it was out of the kindness of his heart, he looked like he belonged back here and that was cause enough for suspicion in her book.

"Well, excuse me for beginning innocent then! It's better then beginning a reckless fool, Mr….?" Iriador trailed off as she realized she didn't know his name. He laughed when he saw her expression.

"Nay, no Mr for me Miss. Tis simply Angelo."

"Fine, Angelo. Thanks for helping me, but I should be going know, bye. "She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, Miss." Iriador tensed then forced herself to relax.

"What is it?" She asked wishing that she had though to bring her rod with her. Angelo relaxed his grip on her wrist every so slightly, so Iriador pulled out of his grip and turned to face him. "What do you want?." Angelo stared at her for a few more seconds than laughed. Iraidor noted that he laughed a lot.

"I just deliver a warnin' to ye." He said, then pointed behind her. "Are ye planin' on going back the way ye came?"

"Of course." Iriador glanced behind her. "Why?" She asked suddenly feeling very nervous.

"Because, ye should be careful then, lady." Angelo answered.

"I was going to anyway." With a last glare at the red-head, the young woman whirled around and began to retrace her steps. As she stepped out in to the alley she had just exited she heard the sounds of the boots of on the ground. Choosing to ignore it for the moment, Iriador began to walk down the alley keeping a careful eye out for trouble. When she had chasing the thief she hadn't really been paying much attention to where she had been going. Although she knew the general direction she wanted to go, the maze of alley's kept confusing her. After she had been walking for several minuets she came to place where two more alleyways opened onto the one she was in. The summoner paused and began to wonder which way to go.

"Ye want to go left lady." Iriador yelped and whirled around, only to see Angelo leaning against the wall, smiling.

"Why are you following me!?" The summoner snapped at the red-head. He laughed at her…again. Iriador was beginning to get tired of it, although, she noted absent mindedly it was really a good nature laugh. .

"Leavin' ladies to be robbed is not something I be wantin' to do, Miss Twould not sit well on my conscious." One again the young woman leveled a glare at Angelo but he didn't even blink.

"My name isn't Miss, it's Iriador!" She frowned at the young man. "And how do I know I can trust you? You might just be waiting to rob me yourself!"

"Good thinking Miss Iriador, even though ye be wrong this although 'tis probably better that ye not trust me, or any one 'o me ilk." For a second the two stood staring at each other then Angelo gave the summoner a crooked grin. He pointed toward the left.

"And ye should still be goin' that way. 'tis the shortest way back to the main street, I stake me honor on it." Iriador glared at him.

"Aren't you the one that just told me not to trust you? How do I know you even have any honor? Or even a cautious for that matter?" For just a second Iriador though she saw anger in Angelo's eyes but only for a moment. The next he was smiling his crooked smile once again.

"I did say that, didn't I? I take back some of what I said earlier. What ever else ye be miss, your are not a fool." He took a step forward. Iriador took a step back and wished more than ever that she had thought to bring her rod with her . Although she did have a small dagger on her belt she wasn't an expert with it, and it wouldn't do much good against someone who carried two blades. Angelo sighed and held up his hands. "Look, I don't blame ye for not trusting a rouge like myself. But how's about we cut a deal eh?" Iriador looked at him cautiously.

"What sort of deal?" She asked cautiously.

"I'll guide ye to the exit as I promised before, only this time I ask that ye pay." He grinned and winked. "If nothing else trust that a rouge will protect his payment." Iriador stared at him for a moment.

"That's probably true." She admitted. "But what makes you think I need your help? I can take care of myself!"

"Perhaps ye can, but can ye find your way out of here? As I recall ye weren't doin' so well a few minuets ago." Iriador glared at him.

"I'm fine!" She snapped. Angelo held up a hand.

"Peace, Miss. Iriador. I mean no disrespect." He smiled. "I meant that good people like yourself don't belong somewhere where villains like me lurk and should get out as soon as possible." Iriador continued to glare at him. "Look, I know ye have no reason to trust me so far, but I swear on my name and the names 'o all me ancestors."

"How do I know I can trust that! I don't even know if Angelo is your real name!"

"Do ye have a choice?" Angelo's words stopped her short. Iriador glared at him.

"I could find my way out on my own!" This time her words were more uncertain than before.

"Perhaps, but can ye with your virtue and your life intact? T'was a miracle that ye manage to get as far as ye did without one o' the rouges hereabout's stopin' ye." Iriador froze then gulped. She had already been prepared for the threats on her life, after living through what she had how could she be scared of a few humans, but she hadn't considered that some people would be after her for her something other than her money or her life. Back home she had heard about things happening to other girls and received her mothers lectures on what exactly what could happen to girls caught alone, but she hadn't really paid attention to them. Things like that just didn't happen in their little town and the ways things were going she had thought that she would never leave. Now something that she had always thought of as a 'big city' problem that had nothing to do with her, had abruptly become her problem. And that scared her. Suddenly the shadows around her seemed a little more menacing.

Angelo had said nothing while she stood there doing nothing, but now he cleared his throat. Iriador jumped at the sound.

"I dun have all day to be standin' here miss. Can I have ye answer now?" Iriador looked around then sighed.

_I don't have a choice, do I?_ She admitted to herself. This whole mess was her fault and it looked like Angelo was the only semi-decent person around her right now.

"I'll believe your for now, but the moment you make any funny moves, you regret it." She said hoping she sounded more threatening then she felt. Apparently she didn't because once again, Angelo laughed at her.

Soon she was following her guide through the labyrinth of alleyways that made up the darker parts of Lindblum. They past by doorways that were dark, but they were sure they were being watched from. Several times they past by groups of men that, although the did do anything, caused Angelo to reach up and touch a hand to one of his sword hilts. Iriador remember his earlier comment and wondered how she had gotten past these thieves. Did they think that she was being lead to an ambush somewhere? Or where the just so surprised that someone would dare to chase a thief into his own territory that they had been unable to react until she was passed? Either way it was a close call. Shivering as her active imagination showed her what could have happened she couldn't help but glance at the man in front of her and wonder if he was anymore trustworthy than his fellows.

Apparently he was because soon more noise of regular city life began to filter through the alleyways. Those thieves and beggars that seemed to populate these ways soon became fewer and fewer until after what seemed like an eternity but in reality was probably only a few minuets, they exited the maze that they had come through.

"Ahh, sunlight at last!" Iriador cried as she stretched her arms toward the sun, basking in the light. She turned back toward her savior. "I guess I owe you, huh?"

"Not anymore ye don't." Anglo said with a crooked grin. He tossed something toward her. Iriador caught it reflexively. She blinked when realized it was her own money pouch.

"What the?" The summoner said then glance up sharply at Angelo. The thief held up two coins.

"I've already taken' me payment." He said and winked before vanishing back the way they had come.

"Hey!" Iriador lunged forward but he was already gone. Not wanting to get lost again, she turned back toward the city proper. It wasn't until she had already gone a way that she noticed this was far different from the place near the inn. Iriador realized she was well and truly lost.

Hours later the young woman and finally found the Inn were she and Luna had rented rooms. It had taken far longer than she thought it would, although part of it was that she had, in light of her recent run in with Angelo, deiced that she was going to find her way back by herself. It was only when it was starting to get dark and she was still lost that she decided to ask for direction. When Iriadro got near the inn she was surprised to see her friend waiting outside for her.

"Luna, what?"

"Where were you?" The mage snapped. "I woke up and hour ago and the Innkeeper tells me your still not back. So I go to look for you and your aren't in the area! Can you tell me what in the hell you were doing!?" Iriador sweat dropped, then deiced that it probably wasn't the best time to tell Luna about her adventures.

"I got lost." She said firmly. She wasn't lying, she had gotten lost….just in the alleyways and darker parts of the city.

"You got lost?" Luna said drumming her fingers on her arm. "For hours on end?"

"Yeah?" Iriador said. Luna glared at her for a few seconds and the summoner was sure that the mage knew she was hiding something….but at last her friend looked away.

"Fine." Luna sighed. "Just tell me you found out were this clock tower of yours is?" The summoner sweat dropped when she realized she had forgotten all about why they had come here.

"Uh…no?" She said lamely. Her friend shook her head.

"You…are…an..idot. Your also incredibly luck that you have me and my awesome observations skills." At Iriadors blank look, the mage pointed toward a poster next to the door of the inn. "Look."

Iriador walked up then blinked. It was an advertisement for a play that the famous Tantalus troop was putting on. And it was taking place it the theater district in the

"Clock Tower theater!?" The summoner exclaimed as she finished reading.

"Yup. Think it's the one were looking for?"

"I don't know. Dad never mentioned anything specific."

"Well, it's worth a look anyway. Come on, it late. The play will still be there in the morning." Tired from the days excitement, Iriador just nodded before following her friend into the inn.

The next morning the companions caught one of the cabs to the theater district. Upon arriving they were able to locate the tower fairly quickly. It rose high over the rest of the nearby buildings and was pointed to my various signs and posters advertising the play. Iriador had high hopes of being able to get in fairly quickly, but the they saw the crowd around the clock tower.

"This isn't going to be easy is it?' Iriador whispered as she started at the crowd.

"What made you think it would be?" Her friend asked then stalked forward.

"Hey, wait up!" The black-haired summoner cried then started to push through the crowd. It took them a while to get near enough to the entrance, but when they did, it was to be greeted by a large sign on the door that said 'SOLD OUT.'

"That's just great." Luna grumbled. "After all that, we can't even get inside." Iriador however was looking away from the rest of the crowd. Although she was still nervous from her recent adventure, it did give her and idea.

"Come on." She said to the older woman and started to push her way back through the crowd. Frowning Luna opened her mouth to say something but, Iriador just reached back and grabbed her friends wrist to pull her toward a small alley she had noticed.

"What are you doing?" The black mage hissed as she they left the crowds behind. Iriador stopped and Luna pulled herself free of her friends grasp.

"Look, we really didn't come here to see a play did we?" The summoner said as she turned to face her friend.

"That's true…"

"And someplace like this is bound to have a backdoor or something right?" Iriador continued.

"All we have to do is find it."

"You mean sneak in?" The silver haired mage sounded skeptical. "What about the guards and thing? I'm sure a place as popular as this one won't just let us waltz in."

"We'll figure that part out when we get there." Iriador said as she turned and continued down the alley.

"And walking in without any plan what so ever is smart?" Luan shook her head and hurried after her black-haired friend.

It didn't take them long to find the back door. Actors and stage hands were rushing in and out carrying various costumes and pieces of scenery.

"See, we'll never be able to get in without someone seeing us." The mage hissed as the peaked around the wall they were hiding behind. "They will catch us." Iriador frowned and began to wonder exactly what they were going to do.

At that moment two people, running in different directions and both carrying huge armfuls of colorful costumes, ran into each other. The costumes flew every where and several of the other helpers managed to trip on the piles of fabric. Seeing the confusion Iriador grinned and ran toward the chaos.

"Iriador!" Luan hissed then cursed and took off after her friend. The black-haired summoner slipped behind a large piece of scenery that a worker had momentarily sat down half in and half out of the doorway. Iriador ducked down behind it and ran into the building.

"That was crazy!" The black mage said once they were inside. Behind the stage it was a confusion of actors, scenery, props and costumes all rushing each way.

"Now all we have to do is find this him." Iriador said proudly as she surveyed the chaos.

"Find who?" A voice behind her said.

"Find this Blanc.,..guy?" Iriador gulped and turned around as she realized it wasn't her friend that had been speaking. Instead it was the extremely well armed guard that was standing behind Luna.

"I'm afraid that isn't going to happen." He said menacingly.

"Why not!?" Iriador demanded. "Look my Dad said we had to come here because he had a friend or something to help us. It's not like we're trying to do anything bad."

"Oh your Father….that is original and I'll give you that but I have been at this job for nearly ten years now. I don't need to hear your excuses to know that you're a couple of fan girls."

"We are not. Look I'm telling the truth. My Dad told me to come here if I ever needed help and I did. If you would just let us find this Blanc guy them I'm sure everything would work out."

"Well it's too bad that Master Blanc happens to be out of town now, then doesn't it? 'Cause it seems awfully convenient to me." Iriador glared at the guard, and pushed Luna away when her friend tired to pull her out.

"I'm not lying! I don't know why you don't believe me, I really am…"

"What's going' on here?" A woman called from the side.

"Nothing Lady. Just getting rid of a couple of pests." The guard yelled back.

"We are not pests! We're looking for someone!" Iriador shouted at him, as a blue haired woman walked into view. She paused and Luna saw here eyes go wide, before she walked over to their little group. By now Iriador was standing right in front of the guard hands on her hips, glaring at him. The woman walked up and pushed the guard out of the way. She reached out and slid her hand under Iriador's chin so she could tilt her head back.

"What's yer name?" The woman asked softly.

"Ir…Iriador Tribal." The summoner stammered, caught of guard by the sudden change. The woman smiled let go of Iriador, the promptly reached out and hugged her.

"I've been waiting on ya." She said. "Everbuddy was scared something had happened taya."

"Wait, what, how did?" Iriador asked breathlessly. The woman let go.

"Names Ruby, but ya can call me Auntie if ya want." She smiled at both of them. "Why don't the two of ya come in at my office with me? Ya can tell me everythin'." Confused and more than a little dazed the two followed. "And Fred, ya go back on ya rounds, alright?"

"Okay." The dazed guard said.

An half hour later they were sitting in small cluttered office as Iriador finished telling Ruby about what had happened. At the end Ruby snorted.

"That Zidane. I shoulda known he wouldn' tell ya anything'. And telling ya ta find Blanc. Would it have taken that much trouble tare member me? Anyways.." She looked at both of them. "I don't know if ya'll ever find what yer looking fer Luna but it's probably best if ya come with us."

"Come with you where?" The black mage asked.

"Ta the palace o'course! Them guards no better than ta try and stop me comin' in!" Ruby stood took a shawl off a hook in the wall. "Come on, what ya'll waiting fer?" The two once again found themselves following the older woman almost unwillingly.

A little later the trio made their way up the steps of the palace. Once the got inside the main hall Iriador hesitated, memories of the last time she had been here running through her mind.

"Are ya'll comin' with me or not?" Ruby's voice called out.

"Uh, yeah." The summoner hurried up to where her companions where waiting. Once she had caught up Ruby started to walk forward again. As they neared the stairs that lead up to the main area of the palace, one of the guards came out to meet them.

"Halt. Only those with legitimate business in the palace may proceed past this point." The familiar words sounded again and Iriador winced involuntarily. Although she had no reason to doubt Ruby's words yet, she didn't see how the Tantlus member could get them past the guards, member of the famous group or not. Ruby glared at the guard.

"We do have business, now ya'll just run along and tell th' Queen that Ruby needs at see her right away!" The guard hesitated. "I'ah said at go!" Ruby snapped at him. He jumped, nodded, then went up the stairs. Ruby turned to the two younger women smiling.

"And that how ya get men to listen to ya." Iriador stared at Ruby in awe as the waited for the guard to return.

"He wouldn't listen to Luna or me when he talked like that." The summoner said enviously.

"Ya gotta act like they should obey ya. Half the time if ya act like ya deserve to be treated with respect people will do it automatically." Ruby said and waved her hand to emphasis her words.

"Really?" Iriadro asked curious. Now that she thought about it, her mother had always that way, like it never even occurred to her that you wouldn't do what she said. _Maybe that was why I always ended up doing whatever she wanted me to. _

"Sure, see people like that guard are used to listening to other people. If ya act like someone they should show respect they will, probably without even thinking about it." Iriadro as going to ask Ruby where she had learned that lesson but before she could they were interrupted by the arrival of the guard. But this time there was someone else with him.

"Are you Lady Iriadro, Lady Luna, and Lady Ruby?" The speaker was an older man with grey hair. He was dressed in a servants uniform, although it was much fancier than anything she had seen so far.

"We are, why are ya askin'?" Ruby said. The man nodded shortly.

"You are expected. If you will follow me please." He turned and walked up the steps. The two younger women looked at each other, but Ruby started up the stairs without immediately.

"Are ya two coming?" She called back. The other two started up after her. It was hard for Iriador to keep from staring like the country bumpkin she knew she was. This place wasn't as confusing as the palace and Blumicia but it was far more…elegant. Ever were she looked rich colors gleamed from beautiful works of art. It was as if the upper levels of the palace where a word apart from the lower level.

_It probably is. _Iriador realized. _This is where all the really important decision are made. You want people to take you seriously. _As the summoner though the servant lead the deeper into the castle. At last he stopped in front of a door.

"You are to wait here." Was all he said, then he turned and walked away. The three women looked at each other, then Ruby shrugged and opened the door. Inside was a formal sitting room. The table held a platter piled high with fruits and pastries.

"I've been here a coupla ah times but they've never been this formal. Musta been because I was with ya'll." The older woman said. She sat down at the table and began to sample the snacks left out for them. After a second Luna copied her and then Iriador followed suit. They hadn't been waiting very long when the door was thrown open behind them. Iriador turned expecting another servant, then froze in shock. The woman standing in the door way wasn't a servant., her gown alone would have told them that much. A light purple that seemed to shimmer in the light, it had to be made of silk. She was wearing jewelry that while it looked fairly plain was obviously worth a small fortune. That alone would have been enough to declare her a noble, but it was the glowing silver tiara sitting atop her purple hair that really proclaimed who she was. Queen Eiko of Lindblum stood panting slightly in the door way, eyes darting to each of their faces. Ruby stood up.

"'Bout time ya go here." Ruby said. Iriador turned to stair at the former actress, shocked that she would dare address the most powerful ruler in all of Gaia so familiarly.

"Sorry." Queen Eiko said. "But I was in the middle of an audience, and then I had to send someone find them and confirm everything. I hope you haven't been waiting to long." As she talked Queen Elko's eyes had to rest on Iriador. Uncomfortable the young summoner stood.

"Your Majesty…" Iriador started to say but the Queen spoke first.

"Your…Iriador Tribal aren't you?" She asked.

"Uh…yeah" Iriador answered automatically then winced. But instead of reprimanding her, the Queen swept into the room and threw her arms around the teenager.

"Everyone has been so worried about you. We're so glad your safe." The purple haired monarch said before giving her a quick hug then she releasing the younger woman. The summoner didn't move, still stunned by the reaction. Luan however wasn't.

"What is going on here!?" The black mage demanded. "How in the hell do you know a Queen, Iria?"

"So you're the one who has been helping Iriador. You have both my personal thanks and the thanks of the Queen of Lindblum." Queen Eiko said.

"That's nice and all" Luna responded. "But that still doesn't tell me what in the hell is going on!"

"Luna!" Iriador hissed at her friend. It was one thing to act like that in front of Lady Freya but in front of a Queen. Eiko, however chuckled.

"Your right it does not. However I must take Iriador somewhere." The queen shifter her gaze towards the other person in the room. "Ruby can you explain it to her?" She asked. "We have to go now." Queen Eiko reached out grabbed Iriador's hand and pulled the younger woman from the room before she could protest. It wasn't until the door had been slammed behind them and they were well down the hall that the Queen dropped her hand. However Eiko did not stop walking and Iriador was forced to hurry behind her.

"Where are we going?" She called after the monarch.

"Going to those who will answer your questions." Eiko said not slowing in the slightest.

"Why wasn't Ruby allowed to tell us then?" The Queen reached pair of double doors and finally stopped. She turned meet Iriador's eye.

"Because there are parts of the story that Ruby doesn't know and parts that she only knows a little bit about. This was why others, like Freya, decided not to tell you anything at all. I know it must have been hard for you, but you have to understand, it was better that you knew nothing than been confused by sketchy facts and guesses. Do you understand?" Iriador nodded silently. Queen Eiko grinned at her, suddenly looking like a little girl. "You know, you really do look like your mother, even if you do have your fathers eyes." Iriador flushed and muttered a polite thank you. As she did the queen reached out and grasped the handle on one of the doors.

"Through here are the people who know the whole story behind what really happened. Even I am not sure of all the facts. Are you ready?"

"I….I don't think I am." Iriador admitted all the insecure and fear from earlier coming back in the front. Eiko just smiled.

"No one every really is." She said, then yanked open the door with one hand, shoved Iriador though with other and then slammed the door behind the stunned summoner. It had all happened so fast that the younger woman had no time to react. For a second she stood frozen then she shook her head and took a step forward. Two familiar figures rose to meet her.

"Mom, Dad?" Iraiador whispered. "What are you doing here?"

A/N: It's alive!


End file.
